organizational support thesis

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• Published: 25 June 2020

Perceived organizational support and job satisfaction: a moderated mediation model of proactive personality and psychological empowerment

• Annum Tariq Maan 1 ,
• Ghulam Abid 1 ,
• Tahira Hassan Butt 1 ,
• Fouzia Ashfaq 2 &
• Saira Ahmed 3  

Future Business Journal volume  6 , Article number:  21 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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Drawing on social exchange theory, the purpose of this study is to examine the mediating role of psychological empowerment and moderating role of proactive personality in the relationship between POS and job satisfaction. The data were collected from 936 employees working in various manufacturing and service sectors by using self-report survey questionnaires by employing time-lagged cross-sectional study design. The study findings demonstrate that POS positively influenced psychological empowerment and job satisfaction. Moreover, it is also revealed that the relationship between POS and job satisfaction is weaker when employees’ proactive personality is higher rather than lower. The findings of the current study pose a framework for organizational representatives of both service and manufacturing industries to strengthen individual psychological empowerment and job satisfaction by offering organizational support to those individuals who are less proactive.

Introduction

A long-lasting employment bond comprises positive social exchange approaches in employee–employer relationship whereupon the needs of both parties are addressed [ 40 ]. In the exchange relationship, the employer is worried about the employees’ devotion, engagement and trustworthiness toward them, while employees are conscious about whether their employer is keeping their promises by caring their well-being [ 48 , 61 ]. The theory of organizational support and construct of perceived organizational support (POS) was developed by Eisenberger and his research fellows in [ 26 , 27 ] using social exchange theory [ 15 , 37 , 40 ]. POS is defined as the perception of employees about the degree to which their contributions at organizations are valued, which implies that their associated well-being is given full consideration [ 5 , 26 , 61 ]. The organizational support theory states that individuals form POS, a universal faith that their employer has an advantageous or a disadvantageous inclination toward them [ 40 , 61 ]. Literature also confirms that individuals’ POS helps boost their obligations toward organization in order to reciprocate favorably. Furthermore, they also want to satisfy their socioemotional needs and incorporate organizational affiliation into their social identity [ 21 , 29 ]. In addition, extant literature has shown that individuals’ POS enhances both in-role performance such as goal attainment and extra-role performance such as helping and supportive behavior toward coworkers [ 29 ].

By utilizing social exchange theory as its grounding, researchers have begun to study POS in interpersonal connections with organizations and recognized it as a vital ingredient in subordinate–manager relations [ 65 ]. Meta-analysis conducted by Rhoades and Eisenberger [ 61 ] revealed the favorable treatments such as rewards from the organization, beneficial working conditions and fairness received by employees are directly linked to POS. Moreover, POS promotes auspicious outcomes such as high job satisfaction, lower turnover, enhanced dedication, positive emotions and better performance [ 77 ]. Multi-foci methods to social exchange have highlighted the significance of many sources of support, according to which individuals develop distinct give-and-take relationships with different organizational objectives [ 51 ]. The positive association of POS with job satisfaction, performance, organizational commitment and turnover intention has gained attention in number of employee–organization-related studies [ 30 , 74 ]. Similarly, the outcomes that are relevant to organizational support are job satisfaction, innovative work behavior, learning goal orientation, core self-evaluations and organizational commitment [ 1 , 59 , 71 , 74 , 78 ]. Furthermore, the literature reveals that organizations achieve favorable outcomes if workers feel superior treatment within the organization [ 74 ].

Based upon the theoretical perspective of social exchange theory, the current study proposes that psychological empowerment influences the behavior of employees by facilitating them in preserving high-quality relationships. We suggest that psychological empowerment works as the intervening variable that links the POS with the job satisfaction. Psychological empowerment is defined as the perception of employees regarding the degree of their competence, influence and autonomy toward work environment and meaningfulness of their job [ 62 ]. It is the procedure by which employees achieve mastery and control in their lives, and develop a sense of critical understanding toward dealing their situation [ 12 , 55 ]. Researchers Chang and Liu [ 17 ], Savery and Luks [ 63 ], Laschinger and Finegan [ 50 ] contended that empowered employees at the workplace have increased personal, political and interpersonal powers that enhance their physical and mental health. Thus, another purpose of the current study is to investigate the linkage between perceived organizational support and job satisfaction via the mediating role of employees’ psychological empowerment. However, the understanding of the work context that enables empowerment has significant practical and theoretical implications [ 16 ], but we do not know how and why this is the case. This research also examined whether and how proactive individuals might be a boundary condition for the impact of POS on psychological empowerment. In addition, it explored how the overall mediation process differs under various proactive personality levels.

Proactive personality refers to the tendency of individuals to take initiatives for establishing a positive environment [ 10 , 22 , 70 ]. Usually, people with a proactive personality are able to create positive change in the workplace environment irrespective of the hurdles and constraints faced by them [ 62 ]. Proactive personality research shows that proactive behavior influences meaningful changes in the workplace setting [ 10 , 44 ]. Researchers contend that proactive individuals are most probably ready for employment-related changes, given their predisposition to identify and respond to the job opportunities and make such changes that match with their interests at job [ 44 , 68 ]. In support of this reason, experiments have shown that proactive individuals can effect vocational adaptability through situations and samples [ 38 , 44 , 53 , 68 , 69 ]. However, there is vague understanding of the underlying mechanisms concerning how these effects arise. Examining these mechanisms probably offers counselors and psychologists with substitutes for intervention in the future [ 44 ]. For example, from these types of mechanisms, these experts probably gain comparatively advanced understandings concerning whether and how proactive employees feel psychologically empowered.

Psychological empowerment represents an employee’s active and lively orientation to their respective role assigned at workplace, whereby empowered employees see their work environment as somewhat which can be shaped by their actions [ 66 ], which arouses their creative behavior [ 41 , 79 ], whereby it serves as a mediator that transmits the impact of proactive individuals to job satisfaction. Thus, this study aims at exploring how contextual characteristics such as POS can be associated with job satisfaction in general. Secondly, psychological empowerment is considered as an important mediating mechanism between perceived organizational support and job satisfaction. Furthermore, proactive personality moderates the relationship between perceived organizational support and psychological empowerment.

Research in organizational behavior draws our attention on a narrow range of job-related attitudes, and POS is one of them. In establishing the proposed associations in the model, the current research represented an attempt to contribute toward literature in number of different manners. The theoretical underpinning of POS is organizational support theory [ 29 , 48 ], which is also based upon social exchange relationship and attribution methods [ 15 , 73 ]. Organizational support scholars argued that employees tend to monitor their situations and make attributions for generous behaviors of organizations [ 26 ]. It is given that individuals tend to personify their respective organizations and consider positive and negative treatments which they receive from organizational heads as their perception of being favored or disfavored by organizations as well [ 65 ]. Research in the field organizations contended that there is a reciprocal relationship between individuals and organizations. Therefore, it is imperative to consider the organizational support given to the individuals besides focusing on just employee side of this relationship [ 20 ].

The tenets, attitudes and aspirations of each employee vary; therefore, motivational elements may be different too. POS can improve individuals’ trust and beliefs that the organization identifies their performance and reward them accordingly [ 61 , 72 ]. As a consequence, individuals will reciprocate [ 9 ] the organizational support received by them in several ways and possibly will experience more satisfaction with their job. Therefore, the underlying purpose of the current study is to study the influence of perceived organizational support on job satisfaction.

Secondly, it examines whether psychological empowerment is well incorporated in POS and job satisfaction linkage. Psychological empowerment enables employees to participate in decision making and help in sorting out organizational problems by providing them independence and control [ 34 ]. For many years, scholars have examined behavioral consequences of psychological empowerment. Psychological empowerment fosters high-quality relationship by motivating an individual’s behavior.

Thirdly, this study corroborates the impact of proactive personality and proposes that it weakens the relationship between POS and psychological empowerment. Proactive personality demonstrates the willingness and the tendency of an employee to go above and beyond their job requirements to exhibit extra-role performance [ 75 ]. Henceforth, this research is important to explore and gain insights on the relationship between POS and job satisfaction via the mediating role of psychological empowerment in Asian context. Additionally, to the best of our knowledge, the influence of proactive personality as a moderator has not been examined on the relationship between POS and psychological empowerment (Fig.  1 ).

Theoretical model

Literature review

Perceived organizational support and job satisfaction.

Armstrong-Stassen [ 7 ] explained that individuals’ behavior is influenced by their opinion about fundamental processes that constitute their organization and POS is among them. Few scholars have revealed a strong linkage between POS and job satisfaction [ 23 , 30 , 33 ]. In a longitudinal study conducted by Armstrong-Stassen [ 7 ], it was observed that managers who enjoy high levels of POS reported elevated levels of job satisfaction as compared to managers who supposed to enjoy lower organizational support. The potential description of this outcome is that POS can enrich individuals’ trust and beliefs that their employer identifies and recompense their struggles to accomplish superior performance [ 61 ]. Research suggests that POS starts a social exchange process where individuals feel liable to support the organization in accomplishing its goals which leads to greater rewards. When an employee associates positively with their job and organization, this strengthens the association between them and within the realms of social exchange theory [ 14 ]. As a result, individuals reciprocate organizational support through numerous ways and are more satisfied with their jobs. It is given that employees with POS sense an intrinsic compulsion to be socioemotionally devoted to the work and the organization as well. Thus, they are highly loyal and satisfied with their job and organization [ 36 ]. On the basis of the above discussion, it is proposed that:

Hypothesis 1

POS is positively related to job satisfaction.

Mediating role of psychological empowerment

Those individuals who perceive organizational support toward a working situation are likely to experience psychological empowerment [ 32 ]. Psychological empowerment is a bundle of circumstances that allows individuals or groups to think that they have a grip over their work [ 39 ]. An empirical support has been found about the direct association between POS and job satisfaction [ 76 ]. It has been discussed that when individuals experience empowerment, they recognize that their job is important and they can make decisions by their own. They see that their work effects the organizational effectiveness, which in turn advances job performance [ 18 ] and satisfaction. It is suggested that prudent organizations give power to its workforce by making them involve in decision making, which makes them believe that their work is meaningful [ 49 ]. A recent study has shown that employees’ psychological empowerment is a source of competitive edge for organizations [ 56 ].

It is demonstrated that the employees who receive organizational support show more satisfaction toward their job and have lower turnover rate [ 49 ]. A recent study demonstrated that psychological empowerment works as an essential force that intervenes in the association between POS and job satisfaction [ 8 ]. Many researches on social exchange [ 2 ] and the norms of reciprocity [ 37 ] emphasize that employees feel obligated and are ready to assist their coworkers as well as their employers. Similarly, empowered individuals consider themselves as a significant part of the organization, are competent in accomplishing their goals, experience a sense of hold on their job and are involved in activities that affect the organization in a positive way [ 6 ]. In the same vein, previous research suggests that when individuals perceive high levels of psychological empowerment, it is highly probable that they feel motivated and dedicated toward their job responsibilities [ 56 ].

Furthermore, psychological empowerment works as the key motivator of the individuals’ job satisfaction and previous findings have exhibited the positive association between job satisfaction and psychological empowerment [ 46 ]. In sum, it is believed that the individuals, who perceive that their organizations recognize their contributions, will feel a greater sense of psychological empowerment, which in return is linked to high job satisfaction [ 32 , 49 ]. Thus, it is hypothesized as:

Hypothesis 2

Psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between POS and job satisfaction.

Moderating role of proactive personality

Specifically, the organizational support theory posits that individuals define their work contributions found on the degree to which they think that their organization is conscious about their welfare. When individuals observe that they are appreciated and employer backed them up, in return they tend to involve in desired actions such as they actively learn, exhibit supportive behavior, show commitment toward their organization and providing beneficial solutions. Individual characteristics such as personalities have an important role in affecting how individuals POS as well as how they act. The proactive, imaginative and tough character of adjustable individuals permits them to obtain these capabilities on their own and take organizational support [ 25 ].

By encouraging organizations to be more socially concerned about positive job–family links, workplace circumstances play a proactive role in outlining the vital job and societal consequences [ 47 ]. Psychologically empowered workers proactively carry out their work responsibilities [ 66 ]. A research revealed that highly proactive individuals are engage more in constructive behaviors such as learning, fabricating a promising work situation, recognizing avenues to grow [ 70 ].

In particular, proactive individuals are skillful at developing and maintaining positive give-and-take dealings in the working environment [ 52 ]. Therefore, it has been anticipated that proactive individuals with a powerful fundamental force may react to organizational support more favorably than inactive individuals [ 75 ]. Psychological empowerment enhances an individual’s self-efficacy and the capability to influence one’s job environment, promotes proactive behaviors and creative behavior and lets one to perform freely [ 19 ].

Organizational support theory advocates that employees’ work effort is based upon how much their employing organization is conscious about them and their comfort [ 61 ]. The employees consider that they are valued and favored at work and then most probably involved in organization’s desired behaviors, including helping others, learning keenly, stay with the organization for longer tenure and offering useful suggestions [ 61 ]. Previous research shows that individual differences like proactivity can play as a major force behind affecting how individuals perceive organizational support and behave [ 4 , 75 ].

Help and opinion from interaction with colleagues can deliver precious support to individuals when learning organizational prospects, team rules, grasping work information and adapting social norms of the organization [ 13 ]. It is given that highly proactive individuals are unrestricted by situational hindrances and are competent enough to bring changes to enhance their position in organizations [ 11 ].

Employees with proactive, resourceful and strong nature acquire and use support from their organization [ 25 ]. By modifying office environment to be more socially supported by having strong ties, employment perceptions play a proactive role that determines social outcomes [ 47 ].

Moreover, proactive employees also get involved in extra-role organizational behaviors such as designing a constructive working environment and recognizing new avenues [ 52 ]. It further helps management in developing such work circumstances where employees consider themselves empowered enough to proactively involve in sustainability behaviors [ 49 ]. By integrating the above arguments, it is argued that proactive individuals do not need organization support as they can choose, build and manipulate work conditions in their favor rather than taking organization help. Consequently, proactive personality fades the association between POS and psychological empowerment, as the less organizational support, the more proactive employees will be and the more they will be psychologically empowered. Subsequently, it is proposed that

Hypothesis 3

Proactive personality moderates the relationship between POS and psychological empowerment, such that this relationship is stronger when proactive personality is low rather than high.

Research methods

Sample and procedure.

Data were collected from practitioners belonging to various job functions (e.g., administration, corporate services, engineering, construction works, information and communication technology, education, public relation and media) from both services and manufacturing organizations located in the Punjab province of Pakistan. For sample selection, purposive sampling was utilized in order to get responses from the information-rich cases by proper utilization of available means [ 31 ]. Moreover, in order to minimize the effect of common method bias, data were collected from participants in two waves (one-month gap between both the time waves) [ 58 ] through self-administered questionnaires prepared in English language as English is considered as the medium of communication across these organizations. The participants were asked to fill out the questionnaire for perceived organizational support and proactive personality at Time 1 (T1). One month later, data were collected at Time 2 (T2), where participants were asked to fill up the questionnaire for psychological empowerment and job satisfaction. The data were collected from the target respondents in a natural setting without any interference from the researcher.

By keeping in mind the possibilities of missing data and nonrespondents, our team approached 1200 full-time employees from manufacturing and services organizations. In response, we received back 1186 questionnaires, from which 936 were completed and valid; besides that, those with incomplete and missing data were removed from the analysis.

In the sample of 936 respondents, the majority were from services industries (821, 87.7%) and the remaining respondents belong to manufacturing industries (103, 11.0%); 651 participants were male, while 285 were females (30.4%). The average age of the respondents was 29.68 years (SD = 7.24) with average education level of 15.67 years (SD = 1.51). The average length of time spent with current organization was 5.06 years. In addition, the majority of the respondents were singles (501, 53.5%).

For measuring the study variables, well recognized and most extensively used scales were adopted from the previous studies.

Perceived organizational support Perceived organizational support was measured using eight-item scale developed by Eisenberger et al. [ 28 ]. Employees were requested to assess the degree of their perceived organizational support by using a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. One of sample items is “My organization strongly considers my goals and values,” and its internal consistency was 0.88.

Job satisfaction We measured overall job satisfaction by a single-item scale developed by Scarpello and Campbell [ 64 ] that assessed participant’s satisfaction with their current job on seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = not at all to 7 = very much. The item for overall satisfaction is “Do you mostly enjoy your work in this organization.”

Psychological empowerment To measure psychological empowerment of employees, 12-item scale was used by Spreitzer [ 66 ]. The sample item is “The work I do is very important to me,” and it is measured on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. The internal consistency for this scale was 0.85.

Proactive personality Proactive personality was measured using 5-item scale developed by Janssen et al. [ 43 ]. Employees were asked for their proactive personality using a six-point Likert scale ranging from 1 = very strongly disagree to 5 = very strongly agree. The sample item is “wherever I have been, I have been a powerful force for constructive change,” and its internal consistency was 0.76.

Control variables We controlled for several potentially relevant variables including thriving at work (joint connection of learning and vitality), age (1 = less than 20 till 6 = 60 and above), gender (1 = male, 2 = female), marital status (1 = single, 2 = married, 3 = widow, 4 = divorced), education level (1 = graduate, 2 = postgraduate, 3 = doctorate) and tenure (1 = 0–5 till 5 = 21 and above). Previous research indicated that particularly age, marital status and years of experience significantly correlate with job satisfaction [ 45 , 54 ]. It is purported that gender differences should be given due consideration in the attitude–performance equation in the domain of organizational studies, as Crossman and Abou-Zaki [ 24 ] also suggested that job satisfaction level among males is generally more than females. The educational level is also critical as the employees with different educational levels exhibit diverse attitudes and satisfaction level at work [ 3 ]. Employee tenure is controlled due its impact on job satisfaction and POS. Owens et al. [ 57 ] noted that works at their beginning of job or career with particular organization are more excited and energetic about their work.

Data analysis

Frequency analysis was used to determine the demographic characteristics of the sample, descriptive statistics were used for control and study variables, reliabilities of scales were computed and correlation matrix was computed as well. Confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to test the construct validity of the measurement model, while regression analysis was used to test the moderated mediation hypotheses and validity of the model.

Table  1 presents the mean, SDs, correlation values and Cronbach’s alphas. Correlation coefficients are in the anticipated directions and provide preliminary support for our study hypotheses. For the control variables, it is examined that the relationship between gender and marital status is negatively significant ( r  = − 0.16, p  < 0.01); age and gender ( r  = − 0.21, p  < 0.01); and tenure and gender ( r  = 0.15, p  < 0.01), and the relationship between tenure and marital status is positively significant ( r  = 0.43, p  < 0.01); that between age and marital status ( r  = 0.59, p  < 0.01) is positively correlated.

POS has a positive and significant relationship with psychological empowerment ( r  = 0.46, p  < 0.01); proactive personality is negatively significant with gender ( r  = − 0.07, p  < 0.05); proactive personality is positively significant with POS ( r  = 0.23, p  < 0.01); proactive personality and psychological empowerment ( r  = 0.26, p  < 0.01). Furthermore, job satisfaction is positively significant with other study variables, job satisfaction with POS ( r  = 0.34, p  < 0.01); job satisfaction with psychological empowerment ( r  = 0.38, p  < 0.01); and job satisfaction with proactive personality ( r  = 0.20, p  < 0.01).

Confirmatory factor analysis

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted in order to determine instrument validity by using Fornell and Larcker [ 35 ] validity assessment criterion. At first, we examined full three-factor measurement model in which the items were permitted to associate substantially with their respective factors. Then, following up by other combination of our items related to our three study variables in AMOS 24 was examined. Results of our hypothesized full measurement model (perceived organizational support, proactive personality and psychological empowerment) represented a reasonably good fit, which can be seen in Table  2 , as Chi-square = 1798.21, TLI = 0.98, IFI = 0.99, CFI = 0.99, AGFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.05. All of these indices fall into the acceptable limits.

The full measurement model was also compared with other different factor models in order to find out the best fit model for our data. Further, results showed that the full measurement model is the best fit model for our dataset and that other models did not provide an acceptable model fit at p  <  0.05. The findings suggest that perceived organizational support, proactive personality and psychological empowerment are distinctive constructs.

Construct reliability and validity

The composite reliabilities (CR) of all of our study constructs lie within the range of 0.77 to 0.89, and AVE values are greater than 0.53; hence, the convergent validity is found to be satisfied. Besides, the criteria of discriminant validity set out by Fornell and Larcker [ 35 ] are also fulfilled, as AVE values of every construct of the study are found to be greater than their corresponding squared correlation.

Test for moderated mediation

In order to compute moderated mediation tests, hypothesized theoretical model was evaluated, in which the influence of POS on job satisfaction was seen via psychological empowerment that was conditional on proactive personality. Here, moderated mediation technique was used and was run in one step by using SPSS Process Macro Model 7 [ 60 ] with 95% confidence interval based on 5000 bootstrap samples. Further, the coefficients of the model were estimated, whereby proactive personality interacts with perceived organizational support to influence psychological empowerment of employees, which in return impacts job satisfaction. It is given that results of moderated mediation analysis are presented in Table  3 .

Firstly, the results support our assumptions for the hypothesized moderated mediation model. Secondly, when psychological empowerment is taken as outcome variable, Table  3 depicts the R 2 value which tells us that psychological empowerment explains 25% of the variance in proactive personality in individuals and moderation is shown up by a significant interaction effect (β =  −  0.10) that explains the relationship is negative and significant and also that as psychological empowerment increases, proactive personality decreases in the individuals. Given that p value p  < 0.01, i.e., p = 0.00, shows that psychological empowerment is a highly significant predictor of proactive personality, then the boundaries of the zone of significance are between −  0.16 and −  0.04, which defines that psychological empowerment is significant to proactive personality.

The model further illustrates the positive direct effect of job satisfaction on POS as β = 0.41, SE = 0.06, p  < 0.01. The conditional indirect effect of job satisfaction on POS through psychological empowerment was probed at three different values of proactive personality: one SD below the mean (i.e., 3.80), on the average (4.40) and one SD above the mean (5.00). The indirect effect was significantly different from zero among low (β = 0.27, 95% CI = 0.15 to 0.41); average (β = 0.23, 95% CI = 0.14 to 0.33); and high (β = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.13 to 0.27) for proactive personality individuals. In addition, the index of moderated mediation reveals that the conditional indirect effect of psychological empowerment in the analysis of job satisfaction regressed on POS × PP is significant as indirect effect was − 0.07 and 95% bootstrapping CI of this relationship did not include zero (LLCI = − 0.16 to ULCI = − 0.04). Moreover, results demonstrated that the positive impact of POS on job satisfaction through psychological empowerment increases as proactive personality decreases in the employees. These findings are in the anticipated direction (Fig.  2 ).

Moderated mediation model

Conditional indirect effect of X on Y can be estimated through the following regression equation:

where X is the perceived organizational support (POS), Y is the job satisfaction, W is the proactive personality and M is the psychological empowerment.

This moderated mediation graph shows the indirect effects of POS on job satisfaction through psychological empowerment at higher (1 SD higher) and lower (1 SD lower) levels of proactive personality. These findings provided support for our Hypothesis 3 (Fig.  3 ).

Conditional indirect effects of perceived organizational support on job satisfaction via psychological empowerment at high and low levels of proactive personality

The main focus of the study was to examine the influence of POS on job satisfaction and to provide an insight into the complex mechanism of moderated mediation. Psychological empowerment functions as a mediator between POS and job satisfaction, and proactive personality showed an indirect effect on the association between POS and psychological empowerment. The current study findings provide support for the hypothesized model, which are as follows:

Being consistent with Hypothesis 1, the results demonstrated the positive association between POS and job satisfaction. Our results supported the findings of Alcover et al. [ 5 ]. The results show that the positive role of POS on job satisfaction is persistent in case, when individuals perceive that their organization assesses their participation to the organizational goals favorably and are conscious about their welfare. Resultantly, they experience job satisfaction.

Favoring Hypothesis 3, the present study findings provide support for moderated linkage, corroborating the extent of the negative impact of proactive individuals whereby it weakens the relationship between POS and psychological empowerment. Proactive individuals help managers to progress in such environmental situations where individuals feel empowered to proactively involve in sustainable behaviors. Subsequently, the organizational support is not required by the employees as they create and impact job situations in their favor by themselves, rather taking organization’s help. Thus, proactive personality has moderated the connection between POS and PE in a manner that the said association is robust when PP is less rather than high.

Theoretical contributions

This research offers imperative contribution in the literature by associating and encompassing the previous outcomes in multiple manners. Organizational behavior centers attention on a very few work-related attitudes, and POS and job satisfaction are two of them. The individuals and organizations are involved in a give-and-take relationship when research on the organization is considered. In establishing the proposed associations in the moderated mediation model, the current research will make several contributions.

First, we contributed to the research on POS by suggesting and confirming the positive association between POS (i.e., a characteristic where working behavior of individuals and attitudes are influenced by an individual’s perception of main phenomenon that describes their organization) and job satisfaction (among thorough researched constructs in management research/organizational behavior). Using social exchange theory, we contend that psychological empowerment can exert mediating effects linking POS and job satisfaction.

Psychological empowerment support employees in their decision making and problems solving thus providing independence and control. These results are of great significance as they give understanding into how employees or individuals may affect other individuals’ psychological insights, learning and vitality at work, which in turn influence their behavior. Although past researches had not provided ample evidences for the linkage between psychological empowerment and proactive personality, we advanced the literature of proactive personality as a moderator.

Practical implications

Our findings contribute to overcoming the problems of employees in manufacturing and service sectors as the findings also provide practical implication for managers and practitioners. This research was able to manage a strong understanding of POS, job satisfaction, psychological empowerment and proactive personality.

Manufacturing and services managers should focus on creating and enhancing employee belongings stimulus to avoid the employee turnover. Organizations can strive to provide advocates that are customized to address individual employee’s necessities. The individuals remain in the firm if he/she realizes a high support level (in terms of social and emotional support) [ 42 ]. If an employee receives the support, he/she will perceive it as favorable characteristic of a firm. For estimating the employee’s performance in comparison with their jobs, job satisfaction is a vital feature that benefits the organization [ 42 ]. Managers must understand that every employee has different necessities and expectations which need to be fulfilled. Thus, they should provide support to their employees, including motivated working conditions, flexible working hours and fairly paid salary which resultantly can enhance job satisfaction.

The management should uphold and strengthen the prevailing levels of psychological empowerment and should make strategies to improve it as it can move toward work efficiency and satisfaction without financial expense. Management should empower employees through involvement, support system, information sharing, rewards, tasks handling and by providing chances to take decisions.

Proactive individuals are uneffected by situational factors and probably generate variations to mend their position in the organizational hierarchy [ 11 ]. The proactive and adaptable employees acquire and use support from their organization to make situation in their favour [ 25 ]. Organizations change their policies to be more socially supported by providing positive work–family association. Lastly, this study will offer assistance to managers who are interested in inspiring individual’s satisfaction with his job by enhancing psychological empowerment, job satisfaction and POS within their organizations.

Limitations and future directions

Firstly, by investigating the variable associations, the research revealed an important relationship between PE and POS but still said the association needs more comprehensive explanation. A supposition regarding their association stated at the time when employees are empowered by the organization the organizational support is realized. Forthcoming studies should further explore the association between these variables.

The second potential limitation is that this research studied different manufacturing and services industries of Lahore, Pakistan; however, individuals from other cultures and identities may reveal diverse psychosomatic insights. Accordingly, comparisons can be observed by taking into account cultural differences.

The third limitation is that causality between the study variables cannot be drawn because of cross-sectional research design. So, it is suggested that future studies should conduct experimental/longitudinal strategies to discover the possible reciprocal relationships.

Our unit of analysis was individual based. Comparison was performed between the variables like individual’s perceived organizational support effect on individual’s job satisfaction, etc. So it is recommended that future research must include unit of analysis in the form of groups or departmental levels [ 67 ] as well as teams.

This research work observed the direct association between psychological empowerment and job satisfaction. In the future, it should be seen that psychological empowerment could have an indirect relationship with job satisfaction.

We controlled employee age, gender, marital status, educational level, job type and work experience in order to avoid confounding effects on examined relationships. As in future studies, these could be added as study variables with different demographic characteristics possessing different constituents or consequences of POS, job satisfaction, psychological empowerment and proactive personality.

Lastly, in the future, it is suggested that proactive personality could also function as a moderator of the other associations of the current study model, i.e., between psychological empowerment and job satisfaction. It is given that having the critical role of proactive behavior in organizations, effective measures should be taken to inspire employee proactivity. Examining these mechanisms would probably offer counselors, scholars and psychologists the substitutes for interventions in the future.

This research work makes vital additions in the fields of organizational behavior and applied psychology. The integrated study model revealed the relationship between POS and job satisfaction through the mediating role of psychological empowerment and the moderating impact of proactive personality. The practical findings provide support for organizational support theory and social exchange theory, which entails the groundings for the linkage between these associations. The study examines the intervening effect of psychological empowerment on the relationship between POS and job satisfaction. In addition, the study provides a contribution to the proactive personality by drawing attention to its indirect effect mechanisms that influence the relationship between POS and psychological empowerment. This research highlighted the importance of the fact that the organizations are not compelled to just focus on the empowerment of the employees but should also care for their well-being. The more they channelize the energies of their employees, the more they are satisfied with their job.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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ATM was involved in conceptualization. ATM, THB and GA supported data curation. ATM was involved in formal analysis. ATM and FA were involved in investigation. THB and SA contributed to methodology. GA contributed to project administration. ATM and FA contributed resources. GA was involved in supervision. THB and GA were involved in validation. GA was involved in visualization. ATM contributed to writing—original draft. THB, GA and SA contributed to writing—review and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Maan, A.T., Abid, G., Butt, T.H. et al. Perceived organizational support and job satisfaction: a moderated mediation model of proactive personality and psychological empowerment. Futur Bus J 6 , 21 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-020-00027-8

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The Relation Among Employee Alignment, Perceived Organizational Support, and Employee Engagement

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As organizations struggle to become and remain competitive, the engagement of employees may be a critical enabler in achieving organizational goals, enhancing organizational competitiveness, and improving employee well-being. To this end, scholars have identified a continuing need for research focused on organizational factors within the purview of managers to improve the engagement of employees (Alagaraja & Shuck, 2015; Coyle-Shapiro & Shore, 2007; Eldor & Vigoda-Gadot, 2017; Oswick, 2015; Whittington et al., 2017; Whittington & Galpin, 2010). Using the employee engagement framework proposed by Shuck and Reio (2011), this research examined the relation among employee alignment, perceived organizational support, and employee engagement in an organizational context. The research site was the human resources department of a not-for-profit health care organization located in the southern region of the United States. Census sampling was used to identify the actual sample (Fritz & Morgan, 2010) of 109 full-time nonsupervisory employees whose data was used in the analysis. Three self-report survey instruments were used: (a) the Employee Engagement Scale (Shuck, Adelson, et al., 2017), (b) the Stringer Strategic Alignment Scale (Stringer, 2007), and (c) the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support (Eisenberger et al., 1986). Bivariate correlation and multiple regression analyses were used to test the research hypotheses. The results provided evidence of partial support for the researcher’s hypotheses, with four of the seven hypotheses supported. Evidence was found for a positive relation among employee alignment, perceived organizational support, and employee engagement, as well as the statistically significant contribution of employee alignment in explaining unique variance in employee engagement (i.e., 23.4%). Contrary to expectations, the results did not provide evidence that perceived organizational support had a statistically significant direct effect on employee engagement. Additionally, the results did not provide statistically significant evidence of either a moderation or mediation effect of perceived organizational support on the relation between employee alignment and employee engagement. This study provides preliminary evidence that suggests that employee alignment, and to a lesser extent perceived organizational support, are two factors within the purview of managers that can be useful in creating the requisite organizational environment in which engagement may thrive.

• Meier, John George
• employee engagement
• regression analysis
• perceived organizational support
• employee alignment
• quantitative study
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• Goldman, Ellen F
• Krishna, Vijay
• Schwandt, David R
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The relationship between organizational support, professional quality of life, decent work, and professional well-being among nurses: a cross-sectional study

• Jie Zheng 1 ,
• Shengya Feng 1 ,
• Rong Gao 1 ,
• Xiaoyan Gong 1 ,
• Xinyu Ji 1 ,
• Yuling Li 2 ,
• Xiangli Wang 3 &
• Bowen Xue   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0006-6689-8978 4  

BMC Nursing volume  23 , Article number:  425 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Nurses often face challenges such as inadequate welfare protection, injustice, and workplace adversity including violence, bullying, and sexual harassment. In this context, providing sufficient support to nurses is crucial for the promotion of their professional well-being. This study examines the direct and indirect effects of perceived organizational support on nurses’ well-being, particularly highlighting the mediating roles of professional quality of life and the perception of decent work.

A cross-sectional survey design was employed in this study. Convenience sampling was used to survey 792 nurses from five tertiary A-grade hospitals in Shanxi Province in January 2024. Data collection tools included a custom demographic survey, the Perceived Organizational Support Scale, Professional Quality of Life Scale, Decent Work Perception Scale, and Nurse Occupational Well-being Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and mediation effect analyses were performed.

The findings demonstrate that perceived organizational support has a direct impact on nurses’ occupational well-being (β = 0.323, p  < 0.001). Additionally, professional quality of life and the perception of decent work play chain mediating roles between perceived organizational support and nurses’ well-being ( β  = 0.019, BootLLCI = 0.010, BootULCI = 0.030).

Conclusions

This study highlighted the importance of organizational support in enhancing nurses’ well-being. Professional quality of life and decent work were key mediators. Healthcare institutions should prioritize support measures to improve nurses’ well-being. Future research should explore additional mediators and mechanisms to develop effective strategies for nursing policymakers and administrators.

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Backgrounds

Healthcare professionals globally are confronting substantial challenges posed by the persistent prevalence of influenza, the COVID-19 pandemic, and potential future infectious disease epidemics. Studies have shown that these individuals are subject to considerable stress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and persistent risk of infection, culminating in significant physical and psychological burdens [ 1 , 2 ]. Compounding these challenges, the millennial generation is increasingly central to healthcare delivery, yet they face unparalleled employment pressures amid economic recessions, workforce migrations, and the advent of artificial intelligence [ 3 ]. Moreover, the demanding healthcare environment, exacerbated by inadequate welfare protections, diminishing social esteem, injustice, and exposure to violence, bullying, or sexual harassment in the workplace, disproportionately affects nursing staff [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Therefore, it is imperative that healthcare institutions prioritize the provision of comprehensive support to nurses, the enhancement of their professional life quality, the affirmation of their right to decent work, and the promotion of overall well-being. These measures are vital not only to the individual welfare of nurses but also to the maintenance of high-quality patient care.

Perceived Organizational Support (POS) refers to the extent to which an organization values, respects, and cares for the well-being of its employees, in addition to the contributions and services they provide to the organization [ 7 ]. Manifestations of POS include the provision of a supportive work environment, access to training and development, and equitable compensation and rewards. Research indicates that substantial organizational support is inversely related to nurse burnout and turnover intentions [ 8 ], while positively associated with the enhancement of nurses’ psychological capital—crucial elements of their professional quality of life [ 9 ]. Consequently, this study posits a correlation between nurses’ perceived organizational support and their professional quality of life.

Beyond organizational support, the professional quality of life is fundamental to nurses’ discernment of decent work and overall well-being. Professional quality of life refers to the quality of life that helping professionals achieve through their work [ 10 , 11 ]. This concept encompasses a range of positive and negative psychological impacts experienced while providing services to others [ 11 ]. Positive impacts, known as compassion satisfaction, refer to the pleasure derived from doing one’s work well, helping and caring for others, or from any effort made in one’s work [ 12 ]. Negative impacts, referred to as compassion fatigue, are negative effects experienced by helpers due to close contact with the suffering or trauma of others [ 12 ]. Over the past decade, this concept has been widely applied across various industries and has become an important perspective for studying professionals’ subjective experiences of their work [ 13 ]. Research has found that low levels of compassion satisfaction and high levels of compassion fatigue can lead to issues such as sleep disorders and physical/mental health in nurses [ 14 ]. Consequently, this research hypothesizes a positive relationship between nurses’ professional quality of life and their perception of decent work.

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 8, “Decent work and economic growth,” focuses on labor-related matters [ 15 ], aiming to foster sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth by ensuring full and productive employment, alongside decent work for all [ 16 ]. The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines decent work as productive labor coupled with the protection of workers’ rights, fair income, adequate social protection, and employment opportunities [ 17 ]. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that the vast majority of workers labor in conditions of freedom, justice, safety, and dignity. Duffy distill decent work to the micro-level, encompassing safe working conditions, hours that allow for free time and adequate rest, organizational values that complement family and social values, adequate compensation, and access to adequate healthcare [ 18 ]. Ferraro conceptualized decent work into seven domains: fundamental principles and values at work, adequate working time and workload, fulfilling and productive work, meaningful remuneration for the exercise of citizenship, social protection, opportunities, and health and safety [ 19 ]. Recent studies indicate that decent work correlates with heightened job satisfaction among nurses, diminished turnover intentions, and reduced burnout [ 20 ]. Accordingly, this research postulates a positive correlation between nurses’ perceptions of decent work and their well-being.

Well-being is a comprehensive and multifaceted concept, representing a positive mental state characterized by competence, emotional stability, engagement, meaning, optimism, positive emotions, positive relationships, resilience, self-esteem, and vitality [ 21 , 22 ]. The American Nurses Association defines a healthy nurse as one who can maintain physical, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, personal, and professional well-being [ 23 ]. The critical role nurses play in patient care necessitates a focus on their professional well-being, which is inextricably linked to both their own health and patient outcomes. Empirical evidence suggests that a nurse’s professional well-being is a determinant of their work performance and caregiving capacity, with lower well-being associated with burnout, job dissatisfaction, and heightened turnover [ 24 , 25 ]. Additionally, the concerning rates of nurse suicides highlight the urgency of prioritizing professional well-being within the nursing community [ 26 ].

The Organizational Support Theory (OST) underpins the study of the interplay among the constructs in question. It contends that the care and support an organization extends to its members are pivotal in fostering their loyalty and contributions [ 27 ]. Elevated levels of organizational support correlate with increased emotional attachment to, and a sense of responsibility towards, the organization; conversely, perceived deficiencies in support are associated with a higher propensity for employee turnover [ 28 ]. Organizational support mechanisms, such as salary increments and professional development opportunities, enhance employee engagement, job satisfaction, and, in turn, elevate the quality and integrity of work. Organizational support also promotes confidence, job satisfaction, and an overall state of well-being among employees [ 29 ]. Additionally, existing research indicates that higher levels of organizational support are associated with better professional quality of life among nurses [ 9 ], and there is a positive correlation between organizational support and nurses’ sense of well-being [ 30 ]. There is also a direct link between professional quality of life and nurses’ sense of well-being [ 31 ]. Furthermore, decent working conditions, such as fair compensation, reasonable workload, and a safe work environment, are typically associated with high levels of organizational support [ 32 ].Thus, according to OST, this study hypothesizes that employees’ perceptions of organizational support are posited to exert a direct effect on their well-being, with professional quality of life and perceptions of decent work acting as mediatory factors within this relationship (See Fig.  1 ).

Hypothetical Model of the Mediating Role of Professional Quality of Life and Decent Work in the Relationship between Organizational Support and Professional Well-being among Nurses

In summary, although past research has explored the impact of organizational support on well-being, it has predominantly focused on job stress and mental health issues, without sufficiently delving into the dimensions of professional quality of life and decent work. Furthermore, current studies have relatively overlooked how organizational support can enhance professional quality of life and the perception of decent work, as well as how these variables further influence nurses’ professional well-being [ 9 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap by utilizing the OST model to examine the direct and indirect relationships between organizational support and nurses’ well-being. This approach is intended to improve job satisfaction, reduce staff turnover rates, and ultimately enhance the quality of patient care.

This study used a cross-sectional survey design, conducted in January 2024, and the research report adhered to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist [ 34 ].

Participants recruitment

This study used convenience sampling to select registered nurses from five tertiary Grade A hospitals in Shanxi Province. These hospitals are located in the same city and share similarities in scale, management mode, nurse income levels, and welfare benefits. The research team collaborated with the leadership departments of the hospitals to select eligible participants from the member lists in the hospital management system. The research assistants then sent the electronic link to the participants. Additionally, to ensure the smooth recruitment process, we established communication and feedback mechanisms. We regularly communicated with the hospital research assistants to understand the recruitment progress and any issues encountered, making timely adjustments and improvements as needed.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Based on previous research and discussions among team members, the inclusion criteria for nurses in this study are: (1) Registered nurses; (2) Having one year or more of work experience; (3) Voluntary participation in this study.

Exclusion criteria: (1) History of mental or psychological disorders; (2) Nurses in administrative or logistical positions(responsible for tasks such as patient meals, equipment sterilization, and patient transport).

Sample size

The required sample size was determined via G*Power analysis (version 3.1), assuming a multiple linear regression, an alpha of 0.05, and a power of 0.95. Considering 20 variables—including 5 sociodemographic and 15 scale-related dimensions—the minimum sample size was calculated to be 222 nurses. To allow for a 10% margin of invalid questionnaires, the sample size was adjusted to a minimum of 244 nurses.

In this study, 842 questionnaires were initially collected. After excluding 50 questionnaires that did not meet the criteria, a total of 792 valid questionnaires were retained, resulting in an effective response rate of 94.06%.

Instruments

Demographic characteristics.

We used a custom demographic survey to collect basic information from nurses, including gender, age, education background, years of working, and professional title.

Perceived organizational Support Scale.

Perceived Organizational Support Scale (POSS)

This study employed the Chinese version of the Perceived Organizational Support Scale to measure nurses’ perception of organizational support. The scale, originally developed by Eisenberger [ 27 ] and later revised by McMillint, was further refined by Chinese scholar Hongmei Zuo [ 35 ], resulting in a new Chinese version that was validated among the nursing population and demonstrated good applicability. The scale comprises two dimensions: affective support (items 1 to 10) and instrumental support (items 11 to 13), totaling 13 items. Respondents rated each item on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree,” scored from 1 to 5, respectively. The total score ranges from 13 to 65, with higher scores indicating better perceived organizational support. In this study, the Cronbach’s α coefficient for the scale was calculated as 0.986. The Cronbach’s α for the dimensions were: affective support 0.984, instrumental support 0.962.

Professional Quality of Life Scale (Pro-QOLS)

The Chinese version of the Professional Quality of Life Scale was utilized in this study to assess the quality of professional life among nurses. The scale, originally developed by Stamm [ 11 ], underwent translation and revision by Chinese scholars [ 36 ], demonstrating good reliability and validity. Comprising three subscales: compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress, each with 10 items, the scale totals 30 items. Responses were rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “never” to “very frequently,” with scores ranging from 1 to 5. In this study, for consistency, scores for compassion satisfaction were reverse-coded. Higher scores on the scale indicate higher levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress, as well as lower levels of compassion satisfaction, reflecting lower quality of professional life. The Cronbach’s α coefficient for the scale in this study was calculated as 0.811. The Cronbach’s α for the dimensions were: compassion satisfaction 0.951, secondary traumatic stress 0.865, burnout 0.788.

The Decent Work Perceptions Scale (DWPS)

The Decent Work Perceptions Scale was utilized in this study to assess the level of perceived decent work among nurses. The scale developed by Chinese scholars has been widely used among nurses [ 20 , 37 ]. It comprises five dimensions: work rewards (4 items), work position (3 items), career development (3 items), work recognition (3 items), and work atmosphere (3 items), totaling 16 items. Responses were rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from “completely disagree” to “completely agree,” with scores ranging from 1 to 5. The total score ranged from 16 to 80, with higher scores indicating stronger perception of decent work among nurses. In this study, the Cronbach’s α coefficient for the scale was calculated as 0.960. The Cronbach’s α for the dimensions were: work rewards 0.916, work position 0.837, career development 0.859, work recognition 0.946, and work atmosphere 0.899.

Nurse Occupational Well-being Questionnaire (NOWQ)

The Nurse Occupational Well-being Questionnaire, developed by Ling Chen a [ 38 ], was used in this study to assess nurses’ well-being. The questionnaire comprises five dimensions: “Welfare Treatment,” including 4 items (Items 1, 6, 11, 16); “Interpersonal Relationships,” including 4 items (Items 2, 7, 12, 18); “Work Values,” including 5 items (Items 3, 8, 13, 17, 19); “Management,” including 3 items (Items 4, 9, 14); and “Job Characteristics,” including 3 items (Items 5, 10, 15), totaling 19 items. Responses were rated on a 6-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 6 (“strongly agree”). The total score ranged from 19 to 114, with higher scores indicating higher work well-being among nurses. In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the scale was calculated as 0.967, indicating high internal consistency. The Cronbach’s α for the dimensions were: welfare treatment 0.937, interpersonal relationships 0.922, work values 0.928, management 0.941, and job characteristics 0.810.

Data collection

In this study, all questionnaires were converted into an electronic format using ‘Wen Juan Xing’ and a corresponding link was generated ( www.wjx.cn ). Subsequently, the researchers provided standardized training to the research assistants. The research assistants were responsible for briefly introducing the study’s purpose and procedures to the nurses, ensuring they understood the study’s objectives and methods. The research assistants then sent the electronic link to all eligible registered nurses through their human resources management system. Nurses could start answering the questionnaire by clicking the link. Responses were automatically compiled into a spreadsheet for uniformity.

Informed consent

Participating nurses were thoroughly informed about the purpose of the study, the method of completing the questionnaires, the guarantee of anonymity, and the principles of voluntary participation. Nurses were assured they could withdraw without consequence at any time. The informed consent process was conducted online, where nurses were provided with detailed information about the study and asked to click a voluntary participation button to proceed to the questionnaire. If they chose to decline, the session ended immediately. Nurses’ decisions to complete or decline the questionnaire were confidential and known only to the individual nurse, with no external pressure.

Data management

All data in this study were kept confidential and securely stored in accordance with research ethics involving human participants. No identifying information was stored; only basic demographic data were collected. After data collection, the data were stored in secure electronic folders, managed by authorized researchers, and only accessible to the researchers of this study.

Statistical analysis

Data were analyzed using SPSS version 27.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and the PROCESS Macro. Descriptive statistics summarized the demographic details of the nurse participants and the scores of measured variables. Pearson correlation analysis was employed to examine the relationships between variables. Mediation analysis was conducted using PROCESS version 4.0, with Bootstrap resampling based on 5,000 iterations. The significance of path coefficients was evaluated with a 95% confidence interval. The significance of the indirect effects was determined by examining whether the 95% confidence intervals included zero. If zero was not included, the indirect effect was considered statistically significant. In this study p -values less than 0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance. To evaluate data validity and control for potential bias arising from the use of extensive questionnaire items, this study applied Harman’s single-factor test. The analysis identified 8 factors with eigenvalues greater than one. However, the first factor accounted for only 46.64% of the variance, which is below the commonly accepted critical threshold of 50% [ 39 ]. This indicates that no single factor dominated the variance, suggesting that the observed variance is distributed across multiple factors rather than being attributed to a single common method. Consequently, common method bias did not significantly impact the study. Additionally, the remaining factors accounted for smaller portions of the variance (9.18%, 6.10% etc.), further supporting the robustness of the data against common method bias. These findings affirm that the study’s results are reliable and not significantly influenced by the measurement method employed.

Participant characteristics

Table  1 displays the demographic characteristics of the participants. The data reveals that the mean age of nurses was 33.75 ± 7.07. Moreover, the majority of surveyed nurses were female (95.7%). In terms of education level, most nurses held a bachelor’s degree (88.4%). Regarding years of working experience, the largest proportion of nurses (58%) had been working for 5 to 15 years. The predominant professional title among the surveyed nurses was supervisor nurse(indicating a nurse with extensive nursing experience and advanced professional skills) (47.1%).

The scores of organizational supports, professional quality of life, decent work, and well-being

In this study, nurses reported a mean score of 44.29 ± 13.48 for perceived organizational support and 52.46 ± 14.05 for perceived decent work. The average score for professional quality of life was 84.97 ± 12.64, while the mean score for well-being was 82.23 ± 18.36. Detailed scores for each dimension are showed in Table S1 - S4 .

Correlation analysis

The correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation between perceived organizational support and professional quality of life ( r = -0.318, p  < 0.001). In contrast, perceived organizational support was positively correlated with perceptions of decent work ( r  = 0.867, p  < 0.001) and well-being ( r  = 0.829, p  < 0.001). There was a negative correlation between professional quality of life and both perceived decent work ( r = -0.358, p  < 0.001) and well-being ( r = -0.380, p  < 0.001). Additionally, decent work was positively correlated with well-being ( r  = 0.888, p  < 0.001) (See Table  2 ). In addition, the results of this study show that compassion satisfaction is negatively correlated with all dimensions of decent work, while burnout and secondary traumatic stress are positively correlated with these dimensions. Detailed results are shown in Table S5 .

Mediated effect analysis

As shown in Fig.  2 , the results of this study indicate that organizational support has a direct negative impact on professional quality of life (β= -0.298, p  < 0.001), while it has direct positive effects on decent work (β = 0. 873, p  < 0.001) and well-being (β = 0.323, p  < 0.001). Professional quality of life exerts direct negative influences on decent work (β= -0.102, p  < 0.001) and well-being (β= -0.101, p  < 0.001). Furthermore, decent work demonstrates a direct positive effect on well-being (β = 0.860, p  < 0.001). Mediation analysis reveals that both professional quality of life ( β  = 0.022, BootLLCI = 0.011, BootULCI = 0.035) and decent work ( β  = 0.551, BootLLCI = 0.489, BootULCI = 0.614) serve as mediators between organizational support and well-being. Moreover, the serial mediation effect of organizational support → professional quality of life → decent work → well-being is significant ( β  = 0.019, BootLLCI = 0.010, BootULCI = 0.030). The mediation effects account for 52.39% of the total effects. (See Table  3 )

Chain Mediation Model of Organizational Support, Professional Quality of Life, Decent Work, and Well-Being Among Nurses

Discussions

This study aimed to explore the relationships among organizational support, professional quality of life, decent work, and well-being among nurses. The survey results indicated a direct correlation between organizational support and nurses’ well-being, and establish that professional quality of life affects nurses’ perceptions of decent work, which in turn impacts their well-being. Moreover, professional quality of life and decent work serve as mediators between organizational support and well-being.

The findings of this study indicate that organizational support significantly influences nurses’ professional well-being, aligning with previous research [ 40 ]. In the context of the nursing profession, where job pressures and long hours are prevalent, the importance of organizational support is particularly emphasized [ 41 ]. Supportive perceptions within the workplace contribute to nurses’ positive work attitudes, which in turn boost work efficiency and well-being [ 30 ]. Hence, it is imperative for healthcare institutions to focus on augmenting the perception of organizational support by fostering appropriate work conditions, benefits, and career growth opportunities, thereby reinforcing nurses’ sense of being valued and supported.

The findings of this research highlight the pivotal role that professional quality of life plays in enhancing perceptions of decent work among nurses. It has been observed that nurses with a high professional quality of life report greater levels of decent work. This relationship is critically important in the context of the current labor market, characterized by changing work dynamics, intensified job competition, and the integration of artificial intelligence. The emphasis on improving professional quality of life is increasingly recognized by management as essential for organizational success [ 42 , 43 ]. Nurses with higher professional quality of life typically experience lower burnout and secondary traumatic stress, and they maintain higher compassion satisfaction. This equips them with the resilience needed to manage job stress and to meet challenges positively, which in turn helps reduce burnout and traumatic stress [ 44 , 45 ]. Additionally, their elevated compassion satisfaction—a reflection of the fulfillment they gain from caring for others—acts as a motivator, spurring them to engage more fully in their roles [ 46 ]. As a result, nurses with high professional quality of life tend to perform tasks more effectively and provide superior care, which contributes to higher standards of decent work.

Furthermore, the study findings demonstrated a direct impact of decent work on nurses’ well-being, aligning with previous research findings [ 47 ]. Decent work, an inclusive term, involves facets such as suitable working conditions, equitable treatment, opportunities for career progression, and upholding personal dignity [ 48 ]. Concerning the work environment, decent work necessitates the provision of a safe, healthy, and harmonious workplace [ 49 ]. In such an environment, nurses are better equipped to fulfill their duties, thereby reducing the physical and mental stress caused by unfavorable working conditions. Additionally, decent work emphasizes fair treatment and opportunities for career development [ 50 ]. This implies that nurses should receive compensation and benefits commensurate with their contributions, along with fair opportunities for career advancement and skill development. Such treatment not only meets nurses’ material needs but also enhances their sense of well-being. Conversely, when nurses are unfairly treated or unjustly evaluated, their work motivation and job satisfaction can be severely impacted [ 51 ], thereby affecting their professional well-being. Finally, decent work also underscores personal dignity and respect [ 52 ]. Respect in the workplace, including the appreciation of nurses’ perspectives and efforts, is vital for their overall well-being.

Finally, the study results indicate that professional quality of life and decent work act as mediators between organizational support and well-being, consistent with the assumptions of the Organizational Support Theory [ 53 ], thereby constructing a chain-mediated model. Organizational support has a direct positive effect on nurses’ well-being and an indirect effect via the mediating variables of professional quality of life and decent work. As an essential asset, organizational support equips nurses with the psychological backing and job stability necessary for an enriched work life and quality of life [ 54 ]. Enhanced professional quality of life contributes to a heightened perception of decent work, characterized by substantial material benefits and intangible assets such as respect, achievement, and self-esteem in the work setting [ 55 ]. As nurses perceive improvements in their professional quality of life, they tend to thrive in their roles, gain acknowledgment, and solidify their perception of decent work, fostering a beneficial cycle [ 11 ]. Well-being reflects a holistic psychological state derived from life and work satisfaction. In the nursing profession, the well-being drawn from respect, achievement, and self-worth associated with decent work is particularly impactful. Hence, a cyclical synergy exists among organizational support, professional quality of life, and decent work, each amplifying nurses’ well-being. Organizational support, as the nexus, fosters nurses’ well-being by enhancing their professional quality of life and perception of decent work.

The findings of this study hold significant implications for nursing practice, organizational management, and policy development within healthcare institutions. First, it is imperative that healthcare institutions elevate the organizational support provided to nurses by ensuring adequate resources, support mechanisms, and nurturing work environments. For example, the implementation of employee assistance programs offering psychological support and counseling services can assist nurses in managing occupational stress and emotional burdens [ 56 ]. Second, the enhancement of nurses’ professional quality of life should be a focal point [ 45 ], which includes mitigating nurse fatigue and secondary traumatic stress, as well as fostering compassion satisfaction. Adopting flexible scheduling and ensuring adequate rest and vacation time can help reduce work pressure and fatigue. Further, promoting team-building initiatives and professional development can augment nurses’ sense of teamwork and their competencies, increasing job satisfaction and compassion [ 57 ]. Additionally, organizations should adopt policies and practices to promote decent work for nurses. Healthcare institutions might, for instance, introduce equitable salary structures to reflect nurses’ professional input and offer bonuses and benefits as performance incentives [ 58 ]. Lastly, nurses should have access to comprehensive career development paths that include educational programs, opportunities for academic growth, and advancement prospects, thereby continuously enhancing their professional skills and career trajectories [ 59 ]. Such strategic measures are not only beneficial for the nurses but also for the patients and the healthcare system as a whole, contributing to a more effective and compassionate care environment.

This study has a few limitations. Firstly, it used a cross-sectional survey design, which limits our understanding of causal relationships among variables [ 60 ]. Future research could use longitudinal designs to explore causal relationships more effectively. Secondly, the use of self-report questionnaires may lead to social desirability bias, with participants potentially offering responses they deem socially acceptable [ 61 ], thus compromising result objectivity. To mitigate this, subsequent studies might incorporate mixed methods, including qualitative interviews, to enrich data validity. Lastly, the study had a small sample size of male nurses and fewer experienced nurses, which could impact the generalizability of findings [ 62 ]. Future research efforts should aim for larger and more diverse samples, encompassing a broader range of nurses in terms of gender, age, and professional experience, to enhance the representativeness of the data.

In conclusion, this study has examined the impact of organizational support on nurses’ professional well-being. By analyzing the data, we found that organizational support has a direct effect on nurses’ professional well-being. Professional quality of life and decent work act as mediatory factors in this relationship. Additionally, the findings suggest that healthcare institutions should prioritize organizational support measures to enhance nurses’ professional quality of life, perceptions of decent work, and professional well-being. Future research should continue to explore the mechanisms through which organizational support influences various aspects of professional well-being and identify additional mediatory factors that may play a role. This study could provide valuable insights for nursing policymakers and administrators, enabling the development of more effective strategies to enhance nurses’ professional well-being.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Corona Virus Disease 2019

Strengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology

International Labor Organization

Statistical Product and Service Solutions

Organizational Support Theory

Perceived Organizational Support Scale

The Decent Work Perception Scale

Professional Quality of Life Scale

Nurse Occupational Well-being Questionnaire

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Jie Zheng, Shengya Feng, Rong Gao, Xiaoyan Gong & Xinyu Ji

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JZ and BX was the primary investigator of the study. BX and JZ did a statistical analysis and wrote this paper. BX, JZ, and SF helped conduct the study and revised the manuscript; RG, XG, XJ, YL, and XW helped supervised the survey and checked the data. All authors contributed to and approved the final manuscript.

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Zheng, J., Feng, S., Gao, R. et al. The relationship between organizational support, professional quality of life, decent work, and professional well-being among nurses: a cross-sectional study. BMC Nurs 23 , 425 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-02114-5

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The relationship between organizational support, professional quality of life, decent work, and professional well-being among nurses: a cross-sectional study

Affiliations.

• 1 School of Nursing, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030607, China. [email protected].
• 2 School of Nursing, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030607, China.
• 3 The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030001, China.
• 4 The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030001, China.
• 5 Affiliated Mental Health Center & Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310007, China. [email protected].
• PMID: 38918776
• DOI: 10.1186/s12912-024-02114-5

Background: Nurses often face challenges such as inadequate welfare protection, injustice, and workplace adversity including violence, bullying, and sexual harassment. In this context, providing sufficient support to nurses is crucial for the promotion of their professional well-being. This study examines the direct and indirect effects of perceived organizational support on nurses' well-being, particularly highlighting the mediating roles of professional quality of life and the perception of decent work.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was employed in this study. Convenience sampling was used to survey 792 nurses from five tertiary A-grade hospitals in Shanxi Province in January 2024. Data collection tools included a custom demographic survey, the Perceived Organizational Support Scale, Professional Quality of Life Scale, Decent Work Perception Scale, and Nurse Occupational Well-being Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and mediation effect analyses were performed.

Results: The findings demonstrate that perceived organizational support has a direct impact on nurses' occupational well-being (β = 0.323, p < 0.001). Additionally, professional quality of life and the perception of decent work play chain mediating roles between perceived organizational support and nurses' well-being (β = 0.019, BootLLCI = 0.010, BootULCI = 0.030).

Conclusions: This study highlighted the importance of organizational support in enhancing nurses' well-being. Professional quality of life and decent work were key mediators. Healthcare institutions should prioritize support measures to improve nurses' well-being. Future research should explore additional mediators and mechanisms to develop effective strategies for nursing policymakers and administrators.

Keywords: Decent work; Mediation analysis; Organizational support; Professional quality of life; Professional well-being.

© 2024. The Author(s).

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• Published: 26 October 2023

The impact of perceived organizational support on employees’ knowledge transfer and innovative behavior: comparisons between Taiwan and mainland China

• Michael Yao-Ping Peng 1 ,
• Cheng Xu 2 , 3 ,
• Rong Zheng 4 &
• Yuan He 5  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  10 , Article number:  741 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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• Business and management

This study investigates the correlations among perceived organizational support (POS), self-efficacy, knowledge transfer, and innovative behaviors of employees in the information service companies of Taiwan and mainland China using goal-oriented behavior and social identity theory. A structural model was built, and data were collected through a survey conducted in two rounds, two months apart, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicate that POS significantly affects innovation behavior and self-efficacy in both regions, and self-efficacy plays a key mediating role in the research model. However, the relationship between POS and knowledge transfer was non-significant for mainland China. The study also reveals that the culture of knowledge sharing in the organization can promote employees’ innovation, knowledge sharing behavior, communication, and knowledge transfer. The findings imply that managers should provide organizational support to improve employees’ innovative minds and self-belief, particularly during the pandemic. This research fills a theoretical gap by applying Western theories in an Eastern context and broadening the generalization of the theory. It provides practical implications for improving the quality of human resources by suggesting that managers should provide organizational support to improve employees’ innovative minds and self-belief, particularly during a pandemic. Additionally, it contributes to the literature by examining how cross-cultural differences affect the relationships among POS, self-efficacy, knowledge transfer, and innovative behavior. This study also enriches the literature about employees in particular regions and their service innovation behaviors.

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Introduction.

In the field of organizational behavior and management, it has always been a significant issue that organizational support and psychological cognition of employees have a certain effect on knowledge sharing and innovative behavior (Akgunduz et al. 2018 ; Brown et al. 2011 ; Chang and Edwards 2015 ; Islam et al. 2015 ; Kurtessis et al. 2017 ). Many studies have consistently found a strong correlation between organizational support and employees’ work attitudes and their ability to acquire necessary resources for problem-solving (Ahmed and Nawaz 2015 ; Ahmed et al. 2015 ; Islam and Ahmed, 2019 ; Lamm et al. 2015 ; Lent et al. 2011 ; Liguori et al. 2019 ). Higher levels of organizational support not only improve employees’ attitudes towards their work but also empower them to acquire the resources they need to solve problems effectively. Nevertheless, in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, interpersonal communication and interaction have been suspended, greatly reducing the degree of knowledge sharing and distribution and thus reducing enterprises’ overall capacity for innovation. In uncertain surroundings, employees feel anxious and stressed (Basyouni & El Keshky 2021 ; Eguchi et al. 2021 ), which may have an indirect impact on innovative behavior (Islam et al. 2022b ). Especially in the service industries, there are various hostile behaviors. Employees tend to feel high levels of stress and anxiety in an uncertain work environment. In this situation, the lack of innovative behaviors among employees is not only detrimental to the organization’s growth and development but also directly correlates with high turnover intentions, as evidenced by multiple studies (Ali et al. 2022 ; Ali et al. 2022 ; Anser et al. 2021 ; Usman et al. 2021 ; Usman et al. 2022 ). These studies collectively indicate that when employees do not engage in innovative behaviors, it often leads to a desire to leave the organization, resulting in high turnover intentions. There may be a gap to be filled if previous research findings on organizational support and innovative behavior are applicable to the current research situation. Therefore, this study aims to explore the impact of organizational support on employee innovative behavior in the service industries in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Factors influencing the innovative behavior of employees have been widely discussed in the literature on organizational behavior (Ahmed and Nawaz 2015 ; Chang and Edwards 2015 ; Lent et al. 2011 ; Liguori et al. 2019 ). On the basis of social cognitive theory and organizational learning perspectives (Islam et al. 2015 ), perceptions of organizational support by employees will develop internal factors such as self-cognition, attitude, and intention, which will be reflected in later behavior (Brown et al. 2011 ; Islam and Ahmed, 2019 ; Lee et al. 2021 ; Lent et al. 2011 ; Liguori et al. 2019 ). Some works have explored the shape of employee self-efficacy from the perspective of organizational psychology (Chang and Edwards, 2015 ; Duffy et al. 2014 ; Kurtessis et al. 2017 ; Lent et al. 2011 ; Thompson et al. 2017 ) and knowledge transfer intention from the perspective of knowledge management (Chaudhary et al. 2021 ; Kurz et al. 2018 ; Lin et al. 2015 ; Wang et al. 2019 ) when it comes to variables of intrinsic cognition and intention. Many scholars advocate for emphasizing employee self-efficacy and state that high self-efficacy contributes to improving daily work performance and innovation mindset for employees (Caesens and Stinglhamber 2014 ). Scholars emphasize the importance of self-efficacy as a mediating factor in many different models (Islam et al. 2022b ; Shao et al. 2015 ). For the reasons stated above, this study aims to better understand and investigate the impact of self-efficacy on innovative behavior of employees within the psychological enhancement process in service sector firms.

According to Islam et al. ( 2022a ), a social exchange perspective could well explain knowledge sharing and innovative behaviors between employees. In Bearman ( 1997 ) view of social exchange, employees will increase knowledge transfer due to the codes and relations that have been developed, and the party who receives knowledge transferred by others will have emotional interactions with the sharer based on the principle of reciprocity, thus forming a positive cycle of interaction. Islam et al. ( 2021 ) also indicate that knowledge transfer is a social exchange of knowledge sharing and creation between individuals based on the principle of reciprocity. Knowledge transfer intention, other than self-efficacy, will improve employees’ active storage and access to knowledge bases across the boundaries of individuals and organizations (Foss et al. 2010 ; Islam et al. 2022b ; Islam and Asad 2021 ; Wehn and Montalvo, 2018 ; Wu et al. 2015 ), resulting in superior innovation rules and practices (Abbas and Sağsan 2019 ; Hassan et al. 2016 ). Knowledge transfer is also viewed as an indicator of the effectiveness of knowledge management practices (Bock et al. 2005 ; Fischer et al. 2021 ; Wehn and Montalvo 2018 ). Nevertheless, the exception appears to be extensive knowledge transfer within enterprises instead of an inevitable phenomenon (Wu 2013 ). According to goal-oriented behavior (MGB) (Perugini and Bagozzi 2001 ; Bagozzi 2006 ) and social exchange theory, the study has proposed an explanatory model of innovative behavior. Especially in an environment with high uncertainty (Lamm et al. 2015 ), employees may reduce knowledge transfer behavior or intention in avoidance of pandemic spread, thus inhibiting innovative behavior from employees (Ahmed and Nawaz 2015 ; De Vos et al. 2011 ; Islam et al. 2022a , 2022b ). As a result, this study seeks to investigate the role of knowledge transfer among perceived organizational support, self-efficacy, and innovative behavior in service sector firms.

Besides being maintained by the differences generated by the pandemic, individual feelings and independence are upheld by a cross-cultural perspective as a key moderator (Lee et al. 2021 ; Rehg et al. 2012 ; Meyers et al. 2019 ; Zhao et al. 2021 ). Knowledge transfer proposed to guide such inventive behavior from employees is becoming more generally applicable when there are fewer obvious boundaries and distinctions between cultures in a global context. This study takes Taiwan and mainland China as the research samples for cross-cultural comparison (Hansen et al. 2012 ; Meyers et al. 2019 ; Rehg et al. 2012 ) to explore regions’ differences in working activities caused by cross-cultural and health crises (Schultz et al. 2015 ). Employees in Taiwan and mainland China, while sharing a common Confucian heritage, exhibit distinct workplace behaviors due to their unique historical, political, and economic contexts. Chao and Yen ( 2018 ) emphasize the heterogeneity in microcultures between the two, despite a shared macroculture. Chung and Smith ( 2016 ) further highlight that these differences, rooted in varied historical experiences and political systems, can influence management practices and organizational behaviors, making it vital for organizations to recognize and adapt to these nuances. Therefore, this study aims to explore how cross-cultural differences determine employees’ perceptions of perceived organizational support, self-efficacy, knowledge transfer, and innovative behavior (Ahmed and Nawaz 2015 ; Akgunduz et al. 2018 ). This study follows the following structure: The literature review and hypothesis development are presented in the section 'Literature review and hypotheses development'; the methodology is introduced in the section 'Methodology'; 'Results' explains the results of statistical analysis; furthermore, we have a comprehensive discussion and make a concluding remark in the section 'Discussions and conclusions'. The final part of this study presents the research limitations and future research directions.

Building upon existing literature, this study makes three pivotal contributions. Firstly, by conducting a nuanced cross-cultural examination between Taiwan and mainland China, this study elucidates the intricate interplay of cultural nuances on knowledge transfer and innovation, thereby filling a critical gap in the current understanding of organizational dynamics across different cultural contexts. Secondly, the study innovatively integrates social identity theory with the perspective of goal-oriented behavior, offering a robust and comprehensive theoretical framework that sheds light on the underlying motivations propelling employees’ innovative behaviors. Lastly, the study underscores the centrality of self-efficacy in the knowledge transfer process, positing it as a crucial mediating factor between perceived organizational support (POS) and knowledge transfer. This emphasizes the imperative for organizations to cultivate an environment that bolsters employees’ confidence, thereby fostering enhanced knowledge sharing and innovation.

Literature review and hypotheses development

Innovative behavior.

Based on social identity theory and the goal-oriented behavior model (Perugini and Bagozzi 2001 ), we create an explanatory model for service innovation performance. Several behavioral theories, including the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen 1991 ), posit that innovation attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control are the primary antecedents influencing individual decisions. However, while TPB provides a foundational understanding of behavioral intentions, it sometimes falls short of capturing the full spectrum of individual decision-making, especially when emotions and other intricate psychological factors come into play. Recognizing these limitations, Perugini and Bagozzi ( 2001 ) introduced the goal-oriented behavior model, which incorporates anticipated emotions as influential determinants, thereby offering a more comprehensive perspective on individual behaviors beyond the initial variables proposed by TPB. Furthermore, Islam et al. ( 2022a ) suggest that the scope of antecedents driving innovation behaviors can be broadened even further when viewed through the lens of the social exchange perspective. Based on the principle of reciprocity, employees improve their innovation and innovative ability through knowledge transfer and sharing (Islam and Asad 2021 ). Scholars recommend discussing this factor when examining the decision-making processes of individual behaviors (Bagozzi and Dholakia, 2006 ). This study attempts to further advance prior studies of innovation behaviors by introducing a variety of antecedents.

As asserted by Amabile and Pillemer ( 2012 ), previous studies of organizational creativity focused on discussing the personal characteristics of people with creativity or their ability to resolve issues using creativity from a trait or cognitive perspective (Islam and Asad 2021 ; Islam et al. 2022a ). Afterwards, it was found from autobiographies and letters that creative people are more likely to develop new and valuable ideas in certain social contexts. From then on, scholars began to shift their focus on individual creativity from individual cognitive competence to the effect of social situational factors on innovative behaviors or individual creativity performance (Chen and Zhou 2017 ; Kurz et al. 2018 ; Orfila-Sintes and Mattsson, 2009 ). Creativity is a term used to explain behaviors, and it refers to the fact that employees bring forward new or valuable ideas, but innovative behaviors are the process by which employees present or introduce new ideas at work and implement them in diversified ways to achieve further objectives (Chen and Zhou 2017 ; Reade and Lee 2016 ). Creativity is about an individual’s actions in presenting new or valuable ideas, approaches to problems, or procedures (Amabile 2011 ; Islam and Asad 2021 ). It can be seen from the above that creativity can be considered a core element of innovation behaviors, facilitating the transformation from diversified creative thinking to practical behaviors.

Innovative behavior, in the context of this study, refers to the proactive actions taken by employees to introduce and apply new ideas, solutions, processes, or procedures to their job roles, teams, or the organization as a whole (Islam et al. 2022a , 2022b ; Le and Lei 2019 ; Reade and Lee 2016 ). It encompasses a range of activities, from idea generation, problem-solving, and creative thinking to the actual implementation of these new ideas. This behavior is not just limited to introducing novel ideas but also involves the adaptation and modification of existing practices to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and overall organizational performance. Unlike creativity, innovative behaviors highlight both the introduction and execution of new ideas. To put it differently, innovative behaviors include both creative thinking and its practice, so creativity can also be considered an integral part of innovative behaviors (Islam et al. 2022b ; Kao et al. 2015 ; Newman et al. 2018 ). In terms of depth, creativity can be divided into significant creativity, minor creativity, and daily creativity. The former may change human life and civilization, and the latter is able to resolve daily issues and improve the quality of individual work or life (Conner and Silvia 2015 ). Although professionals in different fields behave differently in problem finding and solving due to diversified working conditions (Goncher et al. 2017 ), common ground can still be found. For example, employees think outside the box, reorganize existing ideas, execute new technologies, processes, and approaches at work, work out novel ideas, sell new ideas to others, and strive to obtain the required resources to implement new ideas and set up an agenda to accomplish them.

Knowledge transfer

Knowledge contains explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge (Shao et al. 2015 ), which can be mutually transformed. Explicit knowledge can usually be expressed via forms of words, computer programming and other symbols, which can be decoded, understood and experienced by people through formal and systematic communication ways and eventually internalized into tacit knowledge (Kim and Lee 2013 ). Tacit knowledge is usually acquired from people’s experience, which is difficult to be explained by characters and other symbols. However, it can be transformed into explicit knowledge through encoding, explaining and accounting for individuation, which is an important element for enterprises in business operation and development (Abbas and Sağsan 2019 ). Thus, knowledge transfer is the reciprocal transformation of explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge (Birkinshaw et al. 2000 ; Johnson and Johnston 2004 ), which is a process of forming a knowledge spiral (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1998 ), namely, combination (explicit knowledge → explicit knowledge), internalization (explicit knowledge → tacit knowledge), socialization (tacit knowledge → tacit knowledge) and externalization (tacit knowledge → explicit knowledge) (Johnson and Johnston 2004 ). The process is also the essence of knowledge creation (Fischer et al. 2021 ; Nonaka and Takeuchi 1998 ; Wehn and Montalvo 2018 ), which contributes to establishing capacity (Hatcheu 2017 ) and enhancing the effectiveness of knowledge transfer (Waris 2015 ), and its medium is associated with “human”. Therefore, knowledge transfer can be taken as a process to obtain knowledge, which indicates that knowledge transfer focuses on the knowledge flow between behavioral agents via organizational learning (Chaudhary et al. 2021 ; Fischer et al. 2021 ), such as forms of individual, group and organization (Sue 2005 ; Shao et al. 2015 ). It contains knowledge transmission, absorption and utilization, meaning a process in which knowledge receivers digest, understand, integrate and utilize (Kang and Kim 2013 ).

Relationship between Knowledge transfer and innovative behavior

The goal-oriented behavior model makes the proposition that “intention” is a key antecedent factor for predicting “individual behavior” (Ajzen and Fishbein 1975 ; Bagozzi 2006 ). Many scholars in the field of behavioristics also agree with this view, and it has been found in many empirical studies that the relationship between the two constructs is quite stable (Kim and Lee 2013 ). The focus of knowledge transfer attitude lies in how much knowledge attributes conducive to innovation individuals expect to acquire in the process of knowledge transfer (Abbas and Sağsan 2019 ; Bysted 2013 ); thus, it can strengthen individual innovative behavior (Wehn and Montalvo, 2018 ). Scholars have argued that if individuals can expect whether behavioral goals are achieved or not (Bagozzi 2006 ; Chin and Rasdi 2014 ), their intention of knowledge transfer can be enhanced (Kurz et al. 2018 ). Furthermore, knowledge transfer can also be regarded as a process of learning, in which employees can learn ways to strengthen knowledge acquisition and knowledge integration during knowledge transfer (Kim and Lee 2013 ; Nguyen et al. 2020 ), and then the tendency toward innovative behavior takes shape (Abbas and Sağsan 2019 ; Islam et al. 2022a , 2022b ).

Although previous studies verify that a higher intention of knowledge transfer in organizations contributes to the increase of innovation behaviors (Chaudhary et al. 2021 ; Lai et al. 2016 ), employees may face huge uncertainties in job safety (Montani and Stagliano 2022 ) and become “free-riders” in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, restricting the attitude of knowledge transfer. In this process, the innovation behaviors of employees may also be reduced due to a lack of sufficient knowledge bases or sources (Bysted 2013 ; Kim and Lee 2013 ). This makes it extremely important to verify the relationship between knowledge transfer and innovation behaviors in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the result indicated that knowledge transfer is positively and significantly associated with innovative behaviors for employees. This association is consistent with the findings of other studies. For instance, Putri and Etikariena ( 2022 ) emphasized the role of knowledge sharing behavior in influencing innovative work behavior, with innovation self-efficacy acting as a mediator. Similarly, Yuan and Ma ( 2022 ) found that interpersonal trust, which is closely related to knowledge transfer, has significant impacts on knowledge-sharing and innovation behavior. Their study also highlighted gender differences in these relationships, suggesting that interpersonal trust is more crucial for female knowledge-sharing and innovative behavior. Based on the above, the study considers that the higher knowledge transfer of employees means a higher likelihood of innovation performance occurring in the future (Bysted 2013 ; Nguyen et al. 2020 ). This paper proposes the following research hypothesis:

H1: knowledge transfer plays a positive and significant effect on employees’ innovative behavior .

Self-efficacy

Social career cognitive theory (SCCT) researchers have researched that, in a certain context, individuals’ behavioral outcomes are affected by both environmental and cognitive factors, particularly those beliefs contributing to success and behavior (Chang and Edwards 2015 ; Liguori et al. 2019 ; Chin and Rasdi 2014 ; Brown et al. 2011 ; Zhao et al. 2021 ). While taking into account interactions with the surroundings (Chang and Edwards 2015 ; Duffy et al. 2014 ; Jemini-Gashi et al. 2019 ; Lent et al. 2011 ) and individual behaviors (Caesens and Stinglhamber 2014 ), these beliefs are named “self-efficacy,” which becomes an essential cognitive variable in individual factors (Islam et al. 2022b ). The motivation of human behaviors (Cordova et al. 2014 ), individual accomplishment, and mental health (Lent et al. 2011 ; Liguori et al. 2019 ) are regarded as being based on self-efficacy (Islam and Asad 2021 ). As well as the impact on occupational development of employees and task completion, in dynamic circumstances, psychological factors of employees are also investigated in the field of human resources through extensive application of self-efficacy (Brown et al. 2011 ; Caesens and Stinglhamber 2014 ; Duffy et al. 2014 ; Jemini-Gashi et al. 2019 ; Lee et al. 2021 ).

Relationship between self-efficacy and innovative behavior

Psychological health, POS (Chin and Rasdi 2014 ), and lifestyles for employees are important concerns discussed in some studies (Lent et al. 2011 ). However, few studies, up to now, have examined general self-efficacy and innovative behavior in this group. As argued by Jemini-Gashi et al. ( 2019 ), individuals show a lower support level, have limited sources of support, and seldom perceive support from others (Brown et al. 2011 ; Caesens and Stinglhamber 2014 ). In other words, employees showing higher self-efficacy tend to obtain a variety of benefits at work, which is conducive to raising job satisfaction (Caesens and Stinglhamber 2014 ; Islam and Ahmed 2019 ). Research by Pan et al. ( 2021 ) found that self-efficacy played a chain-mediated role in the relationship between proactive personality and innovative behavior among preschool teachers. These findings underscore the intricate relationship between self-efficacy and innovative behavior. If employees facing job stress fail to receive timely and necessary psychological support, their general self-efficacy and innovative behaviors will be shattered (Hu and Zhao 2016 ; Islam and Asad 2021 ; Islam et al. 2022b ; Newman et al. 2018 ; Thompson et al. 2017 ) and may tend to cause unique stressors. By contrast, employees with higher self-efficacy are more inclined to have innovative behaviors. Briefly, H4 is deduced as follows:

H2: Self-efficacy plays a positive and significant effect on employees’ innovative behavior .

Relationship between self-efficacy and knowledge transfer

According to organizational behavior literature, when perceiving that other members in the group regard a specific task (e.g., innovation) as a vital objective, individuals are prone to follow the group members and urge themselves to complete the goal (Brown et al. 2011 ; Lamm et al. 2015 ; Kim and Lee 2013 ). During socialization, inner self-motivation, reference objects for learning, and proficiency in work can reduce uncertainties arising from new contexts and stimulate self-efficacy (Caesens and Stinglhamber 2014 ; Chin and Rasdi 2014 ; Islam and Asad 2021 ). According to academics, employees who are confident in their capability to finish specific tasks have a higher possibility of sharing their useful knowledge (Shao et al. 2015 ) because they believe that their knowledge will contribute to solving problems and improving work efficiency (Bysted 2013 ). This aligns with findings from a study by Mubarak et al. ( 2021 ), which revealed that passive leadership greatly influences knowledge hiding practices among individuals, but the presence of creative self-efficacy can reduce such practices. In the context of innovation, knowledge transfer is required to obtain the relating knowledge attributes throughout innovation at whatever level, regardless of the fact that service staff can choose what level of innovation to conduct based on personal considerations (Bysted 2013 ). When perceiving the innovative goal deviating from the innovation goal of the goal (Brown et al. 2011 ), the service staff with high self-efficacy will take an immediate action to synchronize the innovation goal with the knowledge from knowledge transfer (Islam and Asad 2021 ; Kim and Lee 2013 ). What’s more, service staffs will transform knowledge transfer into a habit of adjusting innovative behaviors, as time passes and task experience accumulates. As a result, a service staff, whose self-efficacy in delivering services is higher, will consider knowledge transfer as a critical task while providing services (Brown et al. 2011 ; Caesens and Stinglhamber 2014 ; Islam and Asad 2021 ). In summary, a hypothesis is developed as following:

H3: Self-efficacy has a positive and significant impact on employees’ knowledge transfer .

Perceived organizational support

The concept of perceived organizational support (POS) was first defined by Eisenberger et al. ( 1986 ) from the perspective of perception, which especially refers to organizational support. It is the extent to which employees perceive that the organization attaches importance to their value and contribution and cares about their benefits. Employees’ perception of organizational support is the premise for employees to enhance organizational commitment and show and support organizational goal behavior (Akgunduz et al. 2018 ; Ahmed and Nawaz 2015 ; Ahmed et al. 2015 ; De Vos et al. 2011 ; Islam et al. 2017 ). Thus, most scholars discuss organizational support from the perspective of perception (Islam and Ahmed 2019 ; Maisel and Gable 2009 ). A supportive organizational atmosphere can create an organizational environment that relieves employees’ mental stress (Asad and Khan, 2003 ; Islam and Ahmed 2019 ). If organizations provide more organizational support to employees, such as more innovative resources, means, and conditions (Akgunduz et al. 2018 ; Amabile et al. 2004 ; De Vos et al. 2011 ; Islam et al. 2015 ), employees also perform more commitment and exchange behavior (Ahmed and Nawaz 2015 ; Wang et al. 2014 ), which is conducive to facilitating enterprise innovation (Maisel and Gable, 2009 ; Ahmed et al. 2015 ; Islam et al. 2015 ; Wang et al. 2021 ). Even if he or she fails to feel organizational support, he or she will judge his or her support and relationship in the organization by the change in others’ attitudes (Islam et al. 2017 ; Kurtessis et al. 2017 ) and know whether his or her status in the organization has improved (Islam et al. 2015 ; Lamm et al. 2015 ; Vardaman et al. 2016 ), thus stimulating employees’ work enthusiasm in an indirect way (Amabile et al. 2004 ). Studies have proven that employees’ perceived organizational support can affect their selection of emotional work strategies (Chang et al. 2012 ; Kumar Mishra 2014 ; Hur et al. 2013 ), which has a negative effect on their emotional exhaustion.

Relationship between perceived organizational support and innovative behavior

Employees’ innovative behavior is an indispensable performance indicator for the survival and competitiveness of an organization. At present, in the rapidly changing environment, the need for organizational innovation capability is further enhanced (Bysted 2013 ; Kurz et al. 2018 ). Bledow et al. ( 2019 ) argued that innovation is not an unrestrained and vigorous speculation but requires a divergent mind and the ability to restrain and adopt new methods, as well as constantly proposing critical ideas in the two stages. Within the organization, employees’ innovative behavior must require them to consider outside the existing framework (Bysted 2013 ; Chin and Rasdi 2014 ; De Vos et al. 2011 ), but it also implies that employees must have the courage to identify defects and problems and be willing to provide suggestions (Akgunduz et al. 2018 ; Kurz et al. 2018 ) in order to promote and improve employees’ innovative behavior (George and Zhou 2007 ). Caniels et al. ( 2014 ) believed that in the initial stage of innovation, communication with others is necessary to stimulate thinking, while in the stage of conducting innovation, in addition to constant communication and excluding difficulties, support from a supervisor is also needed (Ahmed and Nawaz 2015 ; De Vos et al. 2011 ). Furthermore, research has shown that perceived organizational support plays a pivotal role in fostering innovative work behavior, with psychological empowerment acting as a mediating factor, and the presence of organizational procedural justice further enhancing this relationship (Park and Kim 2022 ). Perry-Smith and Mannucci ( 2017 ) believed that the organizational innovation process requires different stages and different resource support to be effective, including: in the stage of generating innovative ideas, employees’ cognitive flexibility is needed; in the stage of improving innovative ideas, constructive ideas and suggestions are needed; and in the stage of proposing innovative ideas, support of power and influence from supervisors is needed (De Vos et al. 2011 ). Finally, in the stage of innovation achievement, organizations should understand and accept different opinions and work methods to succeed (Ahmed and Nawaz 2015 ). Based on the above arguments, researchers propose H4:

H4: POS has a positive and significant impact on employees’ innovative behavior .

Relationship between perceived organizational support and self-efficacy

Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief and cognition about himself or herself and also means the degree of confidence and determination that he or she can accomplish the work (Brown et al. 2011 ; Caesens and Stinglhamber, 2014 ). An important association between POS and self-efficacy has been shown in previous studies (Caesens and Stinglhamber 2014 ; Kose 2016 ). When employees perceive that the organization seems to care about their welfare, they also make contributions in exchange (Islam and Ahmed 2019 ). The sense of belonging owned by employees is also stimulated by POS (Akgunduz et al. 2018 ; Demir 2015 ; Lamm et al. 2015 ). According to Kose ( 2016 ), when it comes to the relationship between POS and self-efficacy, employees feeling organizational support usually consider their positions secure, and they can perceive that the organization shows concern about their occupational development (Kurtessis et al. 2017 ; Lent et al. 2011 ; Schultz et al. 2015 ). It makes sense that employees who deem the organization concerned about their individual and occupational lives would intend to search for more resources to accomplish tasks or to get more responsibilities (Akgunduz et al. 2018 ; Lamm et al. 2015 ), which are dimensions of self-efficacy (Caesens and Stinglhamber 2014 ; Islam and Ahmed 2019 ; Lent et al. 2011 ). There is a positive correlation between POS and organizational citizenship behavior (Demir 2015 ; Meyers et al. 2019 ), predicting more behaviors that are beneficial in an organization. Thus, this study develops H5:

H5: POS has a positive and significant impact on employees’ self-efficacy .

Relationship between perceived organizational support and knowledge transfer

The most direct and effective source of support for employees is POS (Akgunduz et al. 2018 ; Ahmed and Nawaz 2015 ). Organizations would provide employees with assistance in meeting work demands and dispel doubts and anxiety while utilizing technological tools at work (Lamm et al. 2015 ; Lent et al. 2011 ). Moreover, organizational support for effective work will improve employee engagement in work and lead employees to successful task accomplishment (Jemini-Gashi et al. 2019 ; Kurtessis et al. 2017 ; Liguori et al. 2019 ). Moreover, the POS, with its relationship with knowledge transfer and sharing, is helpful in improving employees’ innovative capability (Hammami et al. 2013 ; Lent et al. 2011 ; Liguori et al. 2019 ). When facing practical problems, the POS is available to offer employees resources that are needed for learning and absorbing the knowledge to deal with work problems (Abbas and Sağsan 2019 ; De Vos et al. 2011 ; Kurz et al. 2018 ; Lamm et al. 2015 ). Different knowledge attributes are required at each processing stage, and knowledge acquisition based on the view of social exchange (Chin and Rasdi 2014 ) will provide employees with more willingness to transfer and share knowledge, thus promoting organizational innovation (Kurz et al. 2018 ). Therefore, researchers postulate the following hypothesis:

H6: POS has a positive and significant impact on employees’ knowledge transfer .

Based on the above hypotheses, this study proposes the following research framework Fig. 1 :

This diagram represents the interrelationships between four key constructs: POS (Perceived Organizational Support), Self-efficacy, Knowledge Transfer, and Innovation Behaviour. Arrows indicate the direction and flow of influence between these constructs.

Methodology

Sample and procedure.

This study aims to investigate the employee innovative behavior, and analyze the effect of internal and external factors caused by the organizational and individual knowledge base. Front-line employees from the service industry are considered as the research object of this study. Due to the large population, a non-probability purposive sampling was adopted as there were certain restrictions on random sampling. A structural model was built in this study in order to examine the relations among self-efficacy, POS, innovative behavior, and knowledge transfer. Samples were collected from companies in Taiwan and mainland China. In face of COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan and mainland China adopted different isolation policies. In Taiwan, employees can continue to work and provide services in the original workplaces, while in mainland China, some employees have to work at home or online. The discrepancy in policies may change job attitude and perceived support of employees. Thus, this study conducts a survey to collect research data from Taiwan and mainland China.

This study distributed copies of the questionnaire to front-line service personnel in the service industry in order to assure the sample representativeness and reduce the impact of bias arising from types of industry and job features on the research findings. The questionnaires were distributed both online, using secure survey platforms, and on-site for those who preferred a physical copy. The purposive sampling method was chosen based on specific criteria, ensuring that participants had firsthand experience in the service industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. The information service companies were selected due to their direct interaction with customers, making them more susceptible to the changes brought about by the pandemic. Furthermore, these companies were chosen based on their prominence in the industry and their diverse employee base, offering a comprehensive insight into the research topic. Besides, as for the scale of enterprises, medium - and large-scale information service companies are the ones we distribute questionnaire to. To make our samples representative, we surveyed the companies which provide face-to-face services to customers, and chose the information service companies located in eastern Mainland China and western Taiwan. Thirdly, questionnaire filling will be restricted to employees who have experience for at least one year of service since most variables in this study are individual self-reports from the sample that have been perceived. Before distributing the questionnaires, participants were informed about the purpose of the study, ensuring their understanding and voluntary participation. They were also assured of the confidentiality of their responses and were provided with an informed consent form to sign. Questionnaires were filled out anonymously by participants, and we also clearly specified the research purpose, research ethics, and low risks in the questionnaires.

In this study, more than 20 information service companies were selected from Taiwan and mainland China. We collected data from existing front-line service employees in two rounds (two months apart). We sent out 1000 copies of the questionnaire in total to each of them between May 2020 and July 2020, and in June 2020, the manager was reminded to send back the questionnaire again. Finally, a total of 636 questionnaires from Taiwan and 558 questionnaires from mainland China were collected, for an effective response rate of 63.6% and 55.8%, respectively. The majority of the respondents from Taiwan are male (62.0%). The details of their demographic information are as follows: 78.3% of them have a bachelor’s degree or higher, 78.5% are between the ages of 30 and 40, and their average working years are 3.8 years. The breakdown of the mainland Chinese respondents is as follows: 62.3% of them are male, 66.7% of them have a bachelor’s degree or above, 54.6% of them are between the ages of 30 and 35, and their average working years are 4.3 years.

To prevent common method variance (CMV), our study conducted a Harman one-factor analysis. The explained variance in one factor was 32.74%, which is smaller than the recommended threshold of 50%. Therefore, CMV was not problematic in this study (Ali et al. 2022 ).

The questionnaires use scales that have been modified from previous studies to adapt to this study. To divide perceived organizational support into supervisor and colleague support (4 items) and organizational support (8 items), we adopted the scale proposed by De Vos et al. ( 2011 ). This scale was chosen due to its comprehensive coverage of both supervisor and organizational support dimensions. In the original study, the scale demonstrated a high reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.82 and has been widely used in studies focusing on organizational behavior.

For self-efficacy, the scale is revised and combined with six items established by Rigotti et al. ( 2008 ). The rationale behind selecting this scale is its specific focus on workplace self-efficacy, which captures nuances relevant to our study. The original scale exhibited a reliability coefficient of 0.85 and has been cited in various organizational studies examining the role of self-efficacy in job performance.

Measurement items of knowledge transfer were adopted from Zhou et al. ( 2010 ). Thus, it included tacit knowledge (4 items) and explicit knowledge (5 items). This scale was selected due to its clear distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge. In Zhou et al.‘s study, the tacit knowledge scale demonstrated a reliability of 0.92, while the explicit knowledge scale had a reliability of 0.93. The scale has been referenced in research exploring knowledge management practices in organizations.

Innovative behavior was measured using Kao et al. ( 2015 ) instrument, which comprehensively assesses innovative behavior in 3 items. The study opted for this instrument because of its concise yet effective measurement of innovative behaviors in the workplace. The instrument had a composite reliability score of 0.84 in the original study and has been employed in research contexts investigating innovation behavior. A five-point Likert scale (1 = totally disagree; 5 = totally agree) was used to measure all items.

Evaluation of the measurement model

In conducting measurement model analysis, construct validity is generally judged by Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In the CFA analysis, Hair et al. ( 2010 ) pointed out that factor loadings greater than 0.50 and Cronbach’s Alpha greater than 0.70 indicate that the variables have high reliability and validity, and CR greater than 0.70 and AVE greater than 0.50 further indicate that the measurement model has better internal consistency. In this study, factor loadings greater than 0.5, Cronbach’s alpha greater than 0.723, CR greater than 0.769, and AVE greater than 0.501 (as shown in Table 1 ). It is clear that the results of the CFA analysis confirm the high reliability of the measurement scales used and the high convergent validity of the measurement model in this research. In the study, the correlation coefficient of each dimension was less than the square root of the Average Variance Extracted, and all cross-loadings were all less than the factor loadings of the dimension as suggest by Hair et al. ( 2010 ), demonstrating a good discriminate validity.

Inner model analysis

Partial Least Squares-SEM was adopted as the main method for data analysis in this study, and Bootstrap was used to estimate the T-value of the path coefficient so as to estimate the results of the hypothesis test proposed in this study. Stone-Geisser-Criterion (Q 2 ), coefficient of determination (R 2 ), and standardized root mean square residuals (SRMR) are used to assess the overall model fit. R 2 values were more significant than 0.30, Q 2 values were above 0, and SRMR was less than 0.05.

Figures 2 & 3 and Table 2 show the results of the hypothesized relationships and standardized coefficients in the two groups in Taiwan and mainland China. The results showed that knowledge transfer was positively and significantly related to innovative behavior (β Taiwan  = 0.196, f 2  = 0.141, p  < 0.001; β China  = 0.412, f 2  = 0.228, p  < 0.001), supporting H1. Research results showed that self-efficacy was positively and significantly related to innovative behavior in Taiwan rather in mainland China (β Taiwan  = 0.382, f 2  = 0.141, p  < 0.001; β China  = 0.018, f 2  = 1.185, p  < 0.001), partially supporting H2. Moreover, Self-efficacy (β Taiwan  = 0.368, f 2  = 0.132, p  < 0.001; β China  = 0.141, f 2  = 0.011, p  < 0.05) was also positively and significantly related to knowledge transfer, supporting H3.

This model showcases the interrelationships between POS (Perceived Organizational Support), Self-efficacy, Knowledge Transfer, and Innovation Behaviour. Control variables such as age, gender, and education (Educa) are also represented. Coefficients beside the arrows indicate the strength and significance of relationships.

The model delineates the relationships between POS (Perceived Organizational Support), Self-efficacy, Knowledge Transfer, and Innovation Behaviour with control variables such as age, gender, and education (Educa). The dotted line indicates paths that are statistically non-significant. The values beside the arrows represent the strength and significance of these relationships.

In addition, POS (β Taiwan  = 0.204, f 2  = 0.041, p  < 0.001; β China  = 0.292, f 2  = 0.089, p  < 0.1) was positively and significantly related to innovative behavior, supporting H4. Similarly, the paths of POS → self-efficacy (β Taiwan  = 0.636, f 2  = 0.678, p  < 0.001; β China  = 0.470, f 2  = 0.283, p  < 0.001, showed that the relations were positive and significant in Taiwanese and mainland China sample, therefore supporting H5. Finally, POS (β Taiwan  = 0.319, f 2  = 0.099, p  < 0.001; β China  = 0.031, f 2  = 0.003, p  > 0.1) was positively and significantly related to knowledge transfer in Taiwan rather in mainland China, partially supporting H6.

Multiple group analysis (MGA): Taiwan and mainland China

The measurement pattern proved to be stable. Whereas, with the suggestion of Hair et al. ( 2010 ), the sample data was divided into two groups by regions (636 employees from Taiwan and 558 employees from mainland China, respectively) to avoid reaching too generalized data-driven theories and patterns. Recommended by Henseler et al. ( 2009 ), this study conducted nonparametric methods, including Henseler’s MGA, showing the results of the structural models’ results and MGA in Table 3 . This study also indicates that there are five obvious differences between the two groups on all paths, regardless of the fact that several differences can be found in significant path estimates between the groups. The results signify that the relationship among POS, self-efficacy, knowledge transfer, and innovative behavior is moderated by region (Hair et al. 2017). The differences reveal that five paths were proven to be significant sequentially through the differences in path comparisons between Taiwan and mainland China. These results imply that the research framework did differ between the two regions.

Examination of mediating effects

Self-efficacy and knowledge transfer to establish the structural model can be regarded as mediating variables. A bootstrapping procedure is further performed on the structural model for each region in order to determine whether the two have mediating effects. Results displayed in Table 4 indicated that indirect effects of self-efficacy and knowledge transfer were supported in the sample of Taiwan. It shows that the setting of important mediating variables plays important roles in conceptual model.

Discussions and conclusions

Conclusions.

With employees in Taiwan and mainland China in information service companies as research samples, this study aims to test the correlations among POS, self-efficacy, knowledge transfer, and innovative behaviors using goal-oriented behavior and social identity theory. This research will fill the theoretical gap in the application of Western theories in the Eastern context (Brown et al. 2011 ; Chang and Edwards 2015 ; Lee et al. 2021 ; Zhao et al. 2021 ) and broaden the generalization of the theory. Moreover, this study aims to provide the following contributions, according to our research findings: First, there are few studies to verify employees’ innovative behavior at great environmental risk (Thompson et al. 2016 ). This study discusses employees’ perceptions of the degree of organizational support among those who are from the information service industry in the global pandemic of COVID-19 and figures out its impact on employees in terms of knowledge transfer and innovation. Second, the process of socialization conducted by employees within the organization has been widely explored in previous studies on social identity theory, but employees’ innovative behavior with global environmental factors has received a mere improvement in a few studies. This study seeks to bridge the theoretical gap and enrich the theoretical basis of social identity theory. Third, as well as verifying the research framework in an Asian context, a cross-cultural perspective to compare differences between Taiwan and mainland China is also included in this study.

The research also contributed to theory by examining how cross-cultural differences affect the relationships among POS, self-efficacy, knowledge transfer, and innovative behavior. Through the PLS_SEM multi-group used in this study, it can be seen that employees in Taiwan and mainland China show considerably different relationship paths between variables. The path of knowledge transfer and innovative behavior among employees on mainland China is significantly larger than that of employees in Taiwan. In addition to this, employees in Taiwan have a strong positive impact on the remaining paths. The study holds the same view as claims from Zhao et al. ( 2021 ) and Lee et al. ( 2021 ) that, due to cultural factors, there are significant disparities in research findings even within the same geographical location, especially in the testing of mediating effects. Verification of indirect effects shows that self-efficacy and knowledge transfer play a vital mediating role in the model of employees in Taiwan but fail to have a mediating role in the model of mainland China. According to a second verification, the geographic distribution of social identity research demonstrates that more empirical evidence is still needed in European and Asian countries.

Theoretical implications

The results show that employees’ self-efficacy is positively related to their POS in Taiwan and mainland China. These results are consistent with those of Kurtessis et al. ( 2017 ), Demir ( 2015 ), and Meyers et al. ( 2019 ), who believe that organizational support factors for employees play an important role in motivating employees to spend more time in their work and improve their ability to achieve goals based on social cognitive theory. Like Islam and Ahmed ( 2019 ) indicated, employees should have a reciprocal effect on POS and improve their self-efficacy through a supportive work environment (Ahmed et al. 2015 ; Islam et al. 2015 , 2017 ). Our findings are largely consistent with previous studies, indicating that self-efficacy is available in a variety of settings (Hansen et al. 2012 ; Lee et al. 2021 ; Rehg et al. 2012 ). Also, in both regions, research shows that POS has a significant and positive effect on innovative behavior. According to the findings of Le and Lei ( 2019 ), employees’ sense of emotional and cognitive commitment would help reduce absenteeism and increase innovative behavior in social exchange theory. Even in diverse regions, organizations or leaders were also able to allow employees to perceive the availability and stability of resources in risky situations, so that employees could feel more reciprocal and engage in innovative activity.

Furthermore, the findings reveal that POS has a positive and significant impact on knowledge transfer for employees in Taiwan rather than those in mainland China. It is also important to note that employees with POS from the organization or supervisors are actively participating in team tasks and problem solving. The results are similar to those of Islam et al. ( 2022a ) and Islam and Asad ( 2021 ). Based on social exchange theory, when employees obtain trust and support in the organization, they are more likely to learn, communicate, and transfer valuable knowledge and information. During the process of teamwork, employees gain resources from organizational support to solve problems, which contributes to knowledge exchange and knowledge transfer. As the research results from Pereira and Mohiya ( 2021 ) show, employees are more willing to share knowledge rather than hide it under the influence of different types of organizational support activities, which promotes the knowledge flow between knowledge sharers and recipients. This is in accordance with the findings of a number of previous studies (Hammami et al. 2013 ; Kurz et al. 2018 ; Lamm et al. 2015 ; Pereira and Mohiya 2021 ) supporting the relationship between POS and knowledge transfer. To the best of our knowledge, limited previous research has looked into the impact of organizational factors on knowledge transfer willingness. However, the relationship between POS and knowledge transfer was non-significant for mainland China, and the possible reason lies in the fact that in mainland China, employees’ need for POS not only requires short-term support; Pereira and Mohiya ( 2021 ) mentioned the work environment full of negative emotions and competition and the lack of organizational support perceived by employees, including the lack of incentives or rewards, the lack of involvement and recognition, the lack of adequate training, the lack of succession planning, the lack of planning and strategy, etc., which may cause employees to hide knowledge and then reduce willingness and behavior of knowledge transfer.

Additionally, the findings reveal that self-efficacy plays a significant role in knowledge transfer for employees in Taiwan and mainland China. Furthermore, self-efficacy plays a key mediating role in the research model. These findings are quite consistent with those of Brown et al. ( 2011 ), Caesens and Stinglhamber ( 2014 ), Lee et al. ( 2021 ), and Islam et al. ( 2022b ), who verified self-efficacy as something important that bridges the relationship between different variables in different contexts. In addition, unlike the findings of Meyers et al. ( 2019 ), both regions are compared in the same model in this study, finding that self-efficacy generated in the social identity model has a direct effect on knowledge transfer. Islam et al. ( 2022a ) also find that self-efficacy is not only a vital mediator but could also inspire employees to invest efforts to increase their innovative behavior. However, research results show that self-efficacy has a positive and significant effect on innovation behavior for employees in Taiwan rather than for mainland Chinese employees. This is consistent with recent work by Hu and Zhao ( 2016 ) and Slatten ( 2014 ) showing that employees high in self-efficacy are likely to choose to engage in innovative behavior, as they will feel confident in their knowledge and skills to generate new ideas and implement those ideas at work.

Moreover, the result indicated that knowledge transfer is positively and significantly associated with innovative behaviors for employees in Taiwan and mainland China and implies that employees in the organization conduct effective implicit and explicit knowledge exchange or sharing. Similarly, Islam et al. ( 2022a , 2022b ) and Islam and Asad ( 2021 ) point out that the culture of knowledge sharing in the organization can promote employees’ innovation, knowledge sharing behavior, communication, and knowledge transfer, and reduce knowledge hiding behavior. This can promote the dissemination of innovation information, ideas, opinions, and solutions. More innovative knowledge can be gained by employees, who can also improve innovative behavior in various working situations via knowledge diffusion and spread (Hu and Zhao 2016 ), specifically in tough situations. Knowledge transfer has a positive impact on innovative behavior, which agrees with the results of prior studies and may enhance the explanatory ability of social identity theory and the cultural relevance of employees with different cultural backgrounds (Abbas and Sağsan 2019 ; Kim and Lee 2013 ; Kurz et al. 2018 ).

Practical implications

To sum up, our findings imply that this study is of great practical significance for improving the quality of human resources. Firstly, in this study, it is found that POS significantly affects innovation behavior and self-efficacy in both regions. It indicates that the support and interaction from superiors, peers, and within the organization can facilitate employees’ having more autonomy and confidence to complete tasks through the collaboration of psychological and tangible resources when performing tasks and objectives and provide stronger innovative behavior. In this regard, this study suggests that managers should provide organizational support that is available to improve employees’ innovative minds and self-belief, particularly during the pandemic, when employees may experience anxiety and stress beyond work. Thus, more empowerment and autonomy should be endowed in terms of work arrangements. In addition to providing more relevant training in customer service and interaction, rewards for service innovation and quality improvement should also be enhanced to stimulate employees’ innovative motivation.

Besides, the study found that employees’ self-efficacy has a positive effect on knowledge transfer. As discussed in previous studies, employees with high self-efficacy can discern the tacit and explicit knowledge needed to achieve tasks in the work environment. To acquire such knowledge, these employees will carry out a series of learning processes through knowledge transfer and share their own knowledge within the organization. Thereby, it is suggested in this study that managers should first improve the learning mechanisms and atmosphere within the organization, create a harmonious and value-creating work environment, and reduce the atmosphere of competition and negative emotions. Employees can perceive their own competence and knowledge value so as to improve their willingness to share and transfer knowledge, such as through the establishment of a network service team and mentoring system, as well as the emphasis on team reciprocal performance.

Finally, the research findings indicate that knowledge transfer has a significant effect on the innovative behavior of employees. Intentions and behaviors of knowledge transfer and sharing will be affected by knowledge readiness. If there is a lack of a sufficient knowledge base, it will be difficult to improve innovative behavior even if knowledge transfer is conducted. To make employees smoothly conduct knowledge transfer, the study suggests that managers should have a detailed classification and description of knowledge and know-how within the organization, which can promote knowledge integration, produce new ideas, and improve employees’ performance in innovative behavior.

Research limitations and suggestions for future researchers

Based on views of goal-oriented behavior and social identity, this study aims to verify whether there are differences between employees in different cultures in terms of trust and cognition generated from the attitude toward organizational support and how these differences are reflected on subsequent innovation behaviors. The PLS-SEM is used in this study to make multi-group analyses and compare path coefficients of models of employees in Taiwan and mainland China. Results show that samples from Taiwan demonstrate a more significant path and a more intensified relationship among variables compared to samples from mainland China. However, it is important to note that POS plays a vital role in preventing and controlling COVID-19, which brings a greater sense of safety for employees and drives them to devote more time to innovation behaviors.

The findings of this study will enrich the literature about employees in particular regions and the service innovation behaviors of employees. However, this study still has certain limitations that need to be addressed in subsequent research. First of all, as purposive sampling was adopted in this study and there were restrictions on time and cost, a more representative sampling method could not be adopted. Despite the fact that sampling conditions were established during the process of sampling, they might still affect the generalization of the results. Therefore, future researchers are suggested to utilize a more detailed sampling process to obtain more representative samples so as to improve the generalization degree of the model and theory. What’s more, although social identity theory plays a critical role in the field of psychology, very few studies have examined the relationship between the building of mechanisms and employees’ service innovation behaviors. Despite the fact that this study refers to the social identity theory and establishes the building mechanism, and the fact that significant organizational theories are available to be drawn from the findings, other motivation theories of hierarchy needs, self-efficacy, organizational learning, etc. can also be used to explain how to motivate employees in a specific region to perform innovative behaviors. Therefore, future research is suggested to identify associated psychological dimensions that influence the innovative service behaviors of employees using diversified theoretical models.

One of the primary limitations of our study is the inability to comprehensively explore all mediation effects due to space constraints. While our primary focus was on cross-cultural differences in innovative behavior, the potential mediating roles of various factors remain an area that warrants further exploration. Future research could delve deeper into these mediation effects, providing a more nuanced understanding of the intricate relationships between the variables in our model.

Third, employees need to report details about mental building mechanisms by themselves as the indicator in the study due to the confidentiality and inaccessibility of the actual data. However, errors may occur when employees state their own mental conditions. Considering research ethics, the connection between building mechanisms and inventive behavior can be better understood if the actual psychological states of employees are assessed. Additionally, researchers are recommended to incorporate the interview contents and employees’ observations of work state into their research in order to provide a basis for the research findings and draw a comprehensive conclusion.

Data availability

The datasets generated during the current study are not publicly available due to the privacy protection of respondents but are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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MY-PP, CX, RZ, and YH composed the conception and design and drafted the article. CX, RZ, and YH interpreted data and revised it critically for important intellectual content. RZ and YH collaborated with the writing of the study. MY-PP provided data methodology and analysis help. MY-PP, CX, RZ, and YH made critical comments and amendments. Correspondence to YH.

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Peng, M.YP., Xu, C., Zheng, R. et al. The impact of perceived organizational support on employees’ knowledge transfer and innovative behavior: comparisons between Taiwan and mainland China. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10 , 741 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-02242-4

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The effects of perceived organizational support on employees’ sense of job insecurity in times of external threats: an empirical investigation under lockdown conditions in China

• Original Article
• Published: 24 March 2023
• Volume 22 , pages 1567–1591, ( 2023 )

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• Luyang Zhou 1 , 2 ,
• Shengxiao Li 2 ,
• Lianxi Zhou 3 ,
• Hong Tao   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5274-0196 1 , 2 &
• Dave Bouckenooghe 4  

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This study examines how perceived organizational support (POS) can be leveraged to provide employees with guided responses to disruptive events. Specifically, this study addresses a previously overlooked yet practically relevant aspect of POS—its communicative role in managing employees’ feelings of job insecurity. Drawing on the social identity perspective and research on individuals’ psychological states of uncertainty, we argue that POS can have both direct and indirect influences on the sense of job insecurity in times of external threats. With this in mind, we used COVID-19 and resulting lockdowns in China as specific context examples of a disruptive event to administer a two-wave lagged survey measuring POS, perceived control, lockdown loneliness, and job insecurity. Theoretical arguments are put forward regarding organizational support for fostering individuals’ social identity and emotional well-being under deeply disruptive work situations. Overall, this study offers insights into how managers may develop risk management and organizationally adaptive practices.

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Introduction

Disruptive events have been on the rise in recent years, spinning from labor disputes and demonstrations to the shortage of global supply chains and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., Gustafsson et al., 2021 ; Lin et al., 2021 ; Oehmen et al., 2020 ). Unfortunately, organizations have little influence or control over the occurrence of these adverse events (Hartmann & Lussier, 2020 ). As the impact of the current COVID-19 disruption demonstrates, the toolbox for organizational adaptive responses needs to be updated and further developed (Butt, 2021 ; Haak-Saheem, 2020 ; Henry et al., 2021 ; Liu et al., 2020 ). The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has spread long-lasting anxiety among communities and has fostered a general sense of insecurity at the sociopolitical, economic, and cultural levels, dramatically disrupting everyday life and business activities (Debata et al., 2020 ; Horn et al., 2021 ; Probst et al., 2020 ). Under these circumstances, an unprecedented magnitude of uncertainty has been experienced collectively regarding the threats and challenges of the COVID-19 outbreak. From a conceptual point of view, experienced uncertainty can derail how individuals respond to external threats and shape how they adapt themselves to their organizations’ responses to disruptive events (e.g., Liu et al., 2022 ; Slaughter et al., 2021 ; Tuan, 2022 ).

To our knowledge, few studies thus far have investigated the impact of organizational adaptive practices on employees’ responses to external threats under high levels of uncertainty (Oehmen et al., 2020 ). In response, the current research examines the communication function of perceived organizational support (POS) in relation to employees’ emotional responses, as well as perceived job insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, social identity theory (Ashforth & Mael, 1989 ; Dutton et al., 2010 ) was used along with prior research on emotions under the state of uncertainty (Slaughter et al., 2021 ). The social identity perspective, as it relates to employee identity and identification in the organization, is often used as a theoretical lens to explain different forms of work-related identities and organizational outcomes (Dutton et al., 2010 ). POS has been shown to manifest itself in communicative functions for supportive work conditions and reinforcement of the socioemotional needs of employees (Brown & Roloff, 2015 ; Neves & Eisenberger, 2012 ). Additionally, POS has often been linked to organizational response strategies and management communication effectiveness, especially in cases when employees are exposed to disruptive events (Gustafsson et al., 2021 ; Kurtessis et al., 2017 ). Drawing from this line of research, the underlying role of POS in how employees respond to external threats from workplace disruptions was examined.

External threats can trigger high levels of fear of uncertainty, which has negative repercussions for individuals’ well-being and ontological insecurity—that is, a person’s sense of “being” in the world (Campbell et al., 2020 ). We believe that POS can manifest itself in the working life of employees in disruptive situations of uncertainty by fostering the employee’s emotional attachment and identification with the organization (Slaughter et al., 2021 ). For instance, a state of uncertainty that is experienced as threatening to the self instills a stronger reliance on emotions (or affective inputs) that are closely linked to the self (Faraji-Rad & Pham, 2017 ). That is, when a threatening situation emerges, there is automatically greater adaptive attention to the self (Campbell et al., 2020 ). Furthermore, a sense of uncertainty also stimulates information-seeking behaviors (Fung et al., 2018 ; Huang & Yang, 2020 ; Kahlor, 2010 ). In this context, organizations can arguably be positioned as a more authentic source for information seeking in the face of a disruptive external threat and, thus, fulfill a key role in shaping affectively driven inputs to ward off the fear of uncertainty. Interestingly, cross-cultural research has suggested that in the case of exposure to external threats, perceived organizational support is more receptive in Eastern cultures, for employees are culturally more likely to see the self as interdependent. Additionally, they are more attuned to organizational support as an identity-related cue (Rockstuhl et al., 2020 ).

The effects of disruptive events and psychological states of uncertainty could be contingent upon the perception of being in control (e.g., Brown & Siegel, 1988 ; Klein & Helweg-Larsen, 2002 ; Thompson et al., 1993 ). The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked extreme uncertainty and substantial fear among people, particularly during lockdowns and other social restrictions (Brodeur et al., 2020 ). As such, it is important to consider the contingent role of internal locus of control on how POS translates into employees’ responses to disruptive situations. Individuals with high perceived control are more likely to maintain an active mindset, triggering more pronounced adaptiveness to organizational efforts for alleviating disruptive situations. In general, it is anticipated that organizations can leverage the role of POS in shaping individuals’ affective inputs (that is, lockdown loneliness under the COVID-19 pandemic), which leads to their subsequent judgments of job insecurity, a particularly important facet of ontological insecurity in deeply unsettling work situations. Henceforth, such causal relationships may be contingent on the perceived locus of control over the threatening nature of the phenomenon (Morgeson et al., 2015 ).

The context for this study entails survey data collected from two waves during the lockdown periods of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. The goal of the study is to unravel the POS effects on employee responses to such disruptive events in the Chinese context. In doing so, we deepen our understanding of POS literature and more specifically enhance our insights into management’s adaptive practices aimed at fostering employees’ social identification in Eastern cultures (Rockstuhl et al., 2020 ). In short, the disruptions and uncertainties that have arisen due to the COVID-19 pandemic offer an excellent field context to illustrate how insights from research on organizational support help to improve our understanding of employees’ job insecurity.

Theoretical background

Perceived organizational support (POS) refers to an employee’s general perception about the organization’s readiness to respond to their socioemotional needs and value their contributions to the organization (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002 ). The concept of POS was developed to explain the development of employee commitment to an organization (Eisenberger et al., 1986 ). To date, a large body of research shows that POS has a considerable impact on a wide range of organizational outcomes, including employees’ increased job satisfaction, productivity, and psychological well-being (Kurtessis et al., 2017 ). A core perspective adopted to explain POS effects is social identity theory (e.g., Ashforth & Mael, 1989 ; Tajfel, 1978 ). According to social identity theory, the key role of POS is in building the self-identification of the employee with the organization (or organizational identification) that matters in developing organizational commitment (Lam et al., 2016 ). Rockstuhl et al. ( 2020 ), drawing on a cross-cultural meta-analysis of POS effects, found that the social identity perspective offers a solid explanation for POS effects in the context of Eastern cultures. In a broad sense, organizational identification refers to an individual’s psychological attachment to an organization (Ashforth & Mael, 1989 ) and mirrors the underlying link or bond that exists between the employee and the organization (Dutton et al., 1994 ). One central assumption seems that when people receive favorable identity-relevant cues from membership in an organization, they are more likely to internalize organizational values that can help them to act in ways that benefit the organization (He & Brown, 2013 ).

The centrality of being well informed about organizational issues and the emphasis on one’s role as an important member in contributing to the organization’s success shape employees’ development of emotional intimacy and feelings of self-worth with the organization. Such emotional attachment translates into increased organizational identification (Sguera et al., 2020 ; Smidts et al., 2001 ). Hence, management communications will signal an organization’s approval, care for, and respect to its employees and offer important cues for employees’ identity formation and sensemaking of POS effects (Rhoades & Eisenberger, 2002 ; Yue et al., 2021 ). In this regard, employees who perceive their organization as supportive are likely to incorporate organizational membership into their social identity. Perceived support helps to encapsulate attention to relational ties that bind people together (Dutton et al., 1994 ). Additionally, in cultures that promote vertical collectivism, these relationship-based identities are more likely to be salient in explaining POS effects (Rockstuhl et al., 2020 ). Drawing from these studies, this paper intends to finetune the understanding of how POS shapes employees’ sense of job insecurity under disruptive situations.

Research hypotheses

The direct effect of perceived organizational support on job insecurity.

When people’s normal and anticipated lives are disrupted, they experience insecurity, uncertainty, and anxiety (Freedy et al., 1994 ). Disruptions can shake people’s confidence in “the continuity of their self-identity and the constancy of their social and material environment of action” (Giddens, 1991 , p. 92), resulting in ontological insecurity. Giddens ( 1991 , p. 37) describes ontological security as a “person’s fundamental sense of safety in the world and includes a basic trust of other people,” and obtaining this trust is “necessary in order for a person to maintain a sense of psychological well-being and avoid existential anxiety.” The extent to which people experience ontological insecurity is associated with feelings of job insecurity, particularly when the workplace is disrupted in unforeseen ways (Lin et al., 2021 ). Job insecurity in this sense reflects a perceived threat to the continuity and stability of employment as it is currently experienced (Shoss, 2017 ). While the fear of losing one’s job can be imaginative and visualized under external threats (Greenhalgh & Rosenblatt, 1984 ), the perception of job insecurity is not just about financial losses, but also encompasses the emotional and affective aspects of the threat to self-identity in the workplace, particularly in the Asian context (Rockstuhl et al., 2020 ). For this reason, organizations may find themselves in the position to help employees better cope with the negative emotional arousal of job insecurity by reestablishing organizational identification and trust in a world that is perceived as stable and predictable (Gustafsson et al., 2021 ).

POS qualifies as a socioemotional need for affiliation, self-control, and psychological support, which are all valued aspects that contribute to psychological resilience and subjective well-being (Baran et al., 2012 ). In this regard, POS manifests itself as a key communicative function for supportive work conditions and reinforcement of the socioemotional needs of employees (Brown & Roloff, 2015 ; Neves & Eisenberger, 2012 ). This communicative function becomes more critical in times of major organizational changes (Gigliotti et al., 2019 ) or crisis situations (Callison & Zillmann, 2002 ). Extending the communicative function of POS, an organization may foster employees’ sense of security, as manifested by providing emotional comfort, facilitating problem resolution, and reinforcing social attachment (Bowlby, 1988 ; Feeney & Collins, 2015 ). By redirecting individuals’ attention to organizational identification, POS enables employees to make sense of their social environment and their position within it and guides their behavior and evaluations (Ashforth & Mael, 1989 ; Dutton et al., 1994 ). In view of the heightened threats and uncertainty of the COVID-19 outbreak, it is argued here that POS serves as an important social resource for creating a sense of social identity that helps alleviate people’s psychological depletion of cognitive and emotional resources during prolonged lockdowns (e.g., Faraji-Rad & Pham, 2017 ). By fulfilling a restored sense of collective good and organizational identity, POS is likely to reduce employees’ perception of job insecurity in times of external threats. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Perceived organizational support (POS) leads to a decreased level of employees’ sense of job insecurity in times of external threats.

Emotional well-being as a mediating path

Emotional well-being refers to one’s ability to produce positive emotions, moods, thoughts, and feelings and adapt in the face of adversity and disruptive situations (Slaughter et al., 2021 ). It entails emotional states and self-appraisal over external threats and uncertainty. Job insecurity is related to multiple health outcomes, including but not limited to psychological strain and subjective well-being (Campbell et al., 2020 ; Cheng et al., 2012 ; Shoss, 2017 ). When job security is at risk, people tend to experience heightened levels of uncertainty draining their emotional well-being (Campbell et al., 2020 ). Despite these insights, relatively unchartered territory remains the study of how uncertainty-triggered emotions relate to felt job insecurity in times of external threats. In this context, Faraji-Rad and Pham ( 2017 ) noted that uncertainty triggers people’s greater attention to the self-relying on their momentary feelings, moods, and emotions to reaffirm the self-status. This research suggests that feelings of fear and uncertainty increase people’s reliance on affective inputs in making meaningful connections to the self. Interestingly, such reliance on feelings may also improve people’s ability to predict future outcomes (Pham et al., 2012 ). Hence, emotional well-being should be especially valuable in gauging one’s sense of job insecurity under external threats and uncertainty.

Relevant to the external threat of the COVID-19 outbreak, people have experienced global lockdowns and closures of nonessential business as part of efforts by governments to stymie the spread of the virus. These widespread lockdowns have caused a great deal of depression, loss of freedom of movement, social isolation, anxiety, and loneliness, compounded by uncertainty about work in the shape of fears about future job prospects and heightened feelings of job insecurity (Debata et al., 2020 ; Probst et al., 2020 ). In particular, the so-called lockdown loneliness or the situational emotions of anxiety, fear, and social isolation that accompany lockdown experiences (Cable, 2020 ; Luchetti et al., 2020 ) have been at the top of the mental health crisis during periods of pandemic disruption (Brodeur et al., 2020 ; Hamermesh, 2020 ). Henceforth, lockdown loneliness is considered a specific state of emotional well-being and how the indirect relationship between POS and employees’ sense of job insecurity can be explained through this emotional state is examined.

Organizations have an important role to play in offering a supportive role to employees when social isolation and its negative impact on psychological well-being risks spiraling over to the workplace (Bentley et al., 2016 ). Organizations provide access to resources, which help employees cope with external threats and challenges. In the case of the loss of such resources or the threat of losing resources, an enormous strain is placed on coping abilities to deal with challenging and stressful situations (Palmwood & McBride, 2019 ). As a considerable amount of resources is consumed when individuals cope with traumatic events, the impact of resources on psychological well-being in times of a crisis is particularly relevant. With their fundamental socioemotional needs fulfilled, individuals with ample resources are more likely to be able to adapt and cope with the psychological distress caused by disruptive traumatic events, whereas individuals with limited or depleted resources are even more psychologically vulnerable to the adverse consequences of trauma caused by such events. In this context, as threatening as COVID-19 is, it is the availability of resources that determines people’s emotional coping with the uncertainties caused by the pandemic. In a situation such as COVID-19, social support in the form of POS is very relevant to helping employees cope with emotional discomfort by restoring their sense of the self in relation to organizational identification. Based on the above observations, we argue for the salient and impactful role of affective inputs in judgment and behaviors under states of uncertainty (Faraji-Rad & Pham, 2017 ), translating the impact of POS on job insecurity through the mediating role of lockdown loneliness. Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Lockdown loneliness mediates the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and employees’ sense of job insecurity.

The contingent influence of perceived control

Perceived control is defined as the belief in one’s ability to exert control over situations or events (e.g., Lee et al., 1990 ; Skinner, 1996 ; Spector, 1986 ) and has a rich research tradition. Multiple theories have attempted to identify the underlying processes that explain the emergence of perceived control, as well as the power of the locus of perceived control on human functioning, such as mental health and behavioral actions (e.g., Ajzen, 2002 ; Brown & Siegel, 1988 ; Rotter, 1966 ; Skinner, 1996 ).

Common to these theories is the notion that there is a fundamental psychological need and desire for control over one’s situation and that there are processes (or means) to enact that control (Liu et al., 2012 ). Advanced arguments point to the importance of understanding perceived control as a more generalized and powerful way of thinking about individual-environment dynamics, particularly relevant to coping with adverse situations or negative life events (Hobfoll, 2002 ; Klein & Helweg-Larsen, 2002 ).

Perceived control has instrumental value to assist people in coping with the strain from a traumatic event, such as the COVID-19 pandemic (Hobfoll, 1989 , 2011 ). The coping function of perceived control is pivotal in mitigating the effect of stressful events on health outcomes (e.g., Poon, 2003 ; Schmitz et al., 2000 ). For instance, Schmitz et al. ( 2000 ) found that the relationship between stressors and burnout was stronger among nurses who attributed protection from an aversive event to a less stable external origin (lack of perceived control) in comparison to those who attributed the cause of protection to the self or an internal origin. Similarly, Poon ( 2003 ) noted that perceived control moderates the effect of organizational politics on job stress and the intention to quit. The adverse effects of organizational politics on job stress and turnover intentions only occurred when employees reported low levels of perceived control.

Recognizing the central role of perceived control in mental health, studies have suggested that attributions of negative life events to uncontrollable causes are likely to shape feelings of anxiety, stress, and psychological well-being (Brown & Siegel, 1988 ; Kehner et al., 1993 ). In the case of a traumatic large-scale event, the attribution of protection against its detrimental impact is often a function of the event’s characteristics rather than stable internal characteristics. As it stands, an event becomes severe and threatening to the self when it is perceived as novel, disruptive, and critical (Morgeson et al., 2015 ). Additionally, the same event can be interpreted and responded to very differently by different individuals (Lin et al., 2021 ). Low levels of perceived control may be indicative of resource depletion, causing a negative loss spiral and thus making it more difficult for people to adapt and embrace supportive social conditions (e.g., organizational support). In contrast, individuals who perceive the external threat as temporary and more controllable (i.e., high levels of perceived control) may maintain an active mindset, leading them to be more adaptive to organizational efforts toward alleviating disruptive lockdown loneliness (or improving emotional well-being). Based on the above, the following hypothesis is proposed:

Perceived control over an external threat moderates the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and lockdown loneliness, such that the relationship is more pronounced when perceived control is high versus low.

Research context

Our research framework was tested in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two-wave lagged survey data were collected during the periods of pandemic lockdowns across different regions in China. COVID-19 has caused enormous disruptions to the taken-for-granted norms, beliefs, and routines that comprise our experiences of the world in general and the workplace in particular (Brammer et al., 2020 ; De Massis & Rondi, 2020 ; Liu et al., 2020 ; Spicer, 2020 ). Given its magnitude and scale of disruptiveness, COVID-19 represents an opportunity for scholars to develop a more nuanced understanding of managerial actions and implications with regard to threats caused by catastrophic events.

Survey description and procedure

The survey design started soon after the COVID-19 outbreak in China. To mitigate sampling bias, a proportionally stratified probability sampling approach was used. Using the respective numbers of infected COVID-19 cases across different regions of China as of July 29, 2020 (the time when the first-wave survey was conducted), our target population was divided into three strata. The first stratum was Hubei Province (with the epicenter Wuhan city included), where the COVID-19 pandemic was the most severe, reporting 68,135 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the province and representing 77.7% of the 87,680 total cases of infection in China. The Province’s permanent resident population of 2019 was approximately 4.2% of the Chinese population. The second stratum consisted of provinces of moderate severity, including Guangdong, Henan, Zhejiang, Hunan, Anhui, and Heilongjiang. By July 29, 2020, there were a total of 7177 confirmed COVID-19 cases in these provinces, 8.2% of the total cases in China, with each province having approximately 1000 cases or more. The permanent resident population of this stratum in 2019 was approximately 31.5% of the total Chinese population. The third stratum represented all other provinces of the lowest severity. By July 29, 2020, there were a total of 12,368 confirmed COVID-19 cases in this stratum, accounting for 14.1% of the total cases in China. The permanent resident population of this stratum in 2019 was approximately 64.3% of the total Chinese population.

Taking the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and the population proportions in the above three strata into account, we targeted approximately 20% or 400 observations collected in the first stratum and approximately 40% or 800 observations in the second and third strata. Since the severity of the pandemic varied enormously across these three strata, our sampling method would reasonably ensure that respondents in the survey were better represented across major regions in China. While each stratum was involved in different levels of lockdown restrictions, national protocols were strictly implemented regardless of the location.

Two specialized data service companies (GrowthEase and WJX) in China were commissioned in administering the surveys. A total of 2157 online questionnaires were completed, with a valid sample of 1805 observations. Breaking down the data, 358 (19.8%) respondents were taken from the first stratum, 745 (41.3%) from the second stratum, and 702 (38.9%) from the third stratum, providing a good representation of the target population. Additionally, the data collection procedure had protocols in place to guarantee that all respondents were employed at the time of the lockdown, had experienced the pandemic lockdowns and were employed during the period of disruption.

This study relied on psychometrically robust scales to measure the core constructs. Unless otherwise noted, the response anchors for all measurement items had five-point Likert formats ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). Table 1 offers a more detailed description of the scales used.

• Perceived organizational support

A 4-item scale was adapted to measure POS by referring to the research on thriving through adversity and communicative functions of POS (Brown & Roloff, 2015 ; Feeney & Collins, 2015 ). This scale yielded excellent internal consistency (Cronbach α  = .858).

Lockdown loneliness

A 5-item scale for lockdown loneliness was adapted based on the scale for measuring loneliness by Hughes et al. ( 2004 ) and Schrempft et al. ( 2019 ). Related to our conceptualization, these measures mostly reflect emotional well-being during the lockdowns. The reliability for this scale was very good (Cronbach α  = .880).

• Job insecurity

This variable was adapted from Anderson and Pontusson ( 2007 ) and Carr and Chung ( 2014 ) using a 4-item scale to measure employees’ sense of job insecurity under the COVID-19 lockdown. The multi-item scale demonstrated excellent reliability (Cronbach α  = .884).

• Perceived control

Perceived control over the COVID-19 pandemic was measured with a 5-item scale adapted from previous studies (e.g., Frazier et al., 2011 ; Mirowsky & Ross, 1991 ; Newsom et al., 1996 ). The scale reflects people’s beliefs about the controllability of the novel coronavirus, as well as their ability to control threats and uncertainties. This scale yielded excellent reliability (Cronbach’s α  = .851).

Control variables

The different regions in our sample implemented different levels of lockdown restrictions. These differences might affect the hypothesized relationships of interest and therefore should be controlled for. The variables included are lockdown status (full restrictions vs. semi restrictions), work status (working from home vs. not working temporarily), family companions, gender, age, levels of education, and income.

Control for common method variance

To minimize potential concerns about common method variance (CMV), attention was paid to the research design and data collection phases, as suggested in the literature. Following the suggestion of Podsakoff et al. ( 2003 ), statistical testing for the presence of CMV was conducted. Harman’s single-factor test, using exploratory factor analysis (EFA), showed that a single factor accounted for 30.21% of the covariance among the measures, below the threshold of 50% (Harman, 1976 ). As an extension of Harman’s single-factor test (e.g., Fuller et al., 2016 ), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test whether all the variables specified in the study loaded onto one common factor. The fit of the one-factor CFA model (CFI = .444, TLI = .332, χ 2 (65) = 7135.373) was compared with that of our four-factor measurement model (CFI = .984, TLI = .979, χ 2 (59) = 260.408). The four-factor CFA model generated a significantly better fit (ΔCFI = .540, ΔTLI = .647, Δ χ 2 (6) = 6874.965, p  < .001), reducing concerns about the potential for CMV (Lattin et al., 2003 ).

In addition, we also applied a CFA marker procedure by Williams et al. ( 2010 ). The method factor is a conceptually unrelated marker variable, namely, a 12-item mindfulness scale (Cronbach’s alpha = .795), developed by Feldman et al. ( 2007 ). According to Williams et al. ( 2010 ), the marker factor loadings are forced to be equal in the Method-C model and are freely estimated in the Method-U model, while in the Method-R model the substantive factor correlations are restricted to values obtained with the Baseline Model. As shown in Table 2 , the latent marker variable effects were significant (Δ χ 2  = 22.049, Δ df  = 1, p  < .001, Baseline vs. Method-C), and CMV was significantly different for all the indicators (Δ χ 2  = 218.783, Δ df  = 12, p  < .001, Method-C vs. Method-U). Comparing the Method-U and Method-R models showed that the marker variable did not significantly bias factor correlation estimates (Δ χ 2  = 11.703, Δ df  = 6, p  > .05, Method-U vs. Method-R), thus providing further evidence for alleviating concerns about CMV.

Analyses and results

Assessment of the measurement model.

Prior to testing the hypothesized framework, the measurement model was assessed in terms of construct reliability and convergent and discriminant validity (Fornell & Larcker, 1981 ; Hair et al., 2010 ). Construct reliability reflects internal consistency in scale items measured by composite reliability. As shown in Table 1 , all composite reliability scores were acceptable. Convergent validity refers to the extent to which measures of a specific construct “converge” or share a high proportion of variance in common (Hair et al., 2010 ). Consistent with the recommendations in the literature (e.g., Hair et al., 2010 ), factor loadings and average variance extracted (AVE) were examined for convergent validity. The results showed that the factor loadings are strongly related to their respective constructs, with standardized loadings all above the .70 threshold (Hair et al., 2010 ). The AVE for each construct varied from .647 to .716 and thus exceeded the .50 threshold (Fornell & Larcker, 1981 ). Overall, these tests offered strong support for the convergent validity of the scales used in this study.

To establish discriminant validity, or the extent to which a construct is truly distinct from other constructs (Hair et al., 2010 ), the amount of variance captured by the construct (AVE) and the shared variance were compared with other constructs (Fornell & Larcker, 1981 ). In support of discriminant validity, all AVE estimates were greater than the corresponding interconstruct squared correlation estimates. In addition, the measurement model was adequate, CFI = .984, TLI = .979, RMSEA = .043, 90% C.I. of RMSEA = [.038, .049], SRMR = .024, \({{\chi^{2} } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\chi^{2} } {df}}} \right. \kern-0pt} {df}}\)  = 4.414, p  < .001. Finally, the descriptive statistics and correlations between the constructs are displayed in Table 3 .

Structural model evaluation

To test the hypotheses, structural equation modeling (SEM) and latent moderated structural equations were conducted (LMS, Klein & Moosbrugger, 2000 ) using Mplus 8.3. We first estimated the mediation-effect-only model, that is, excluding the interaction effect (i.e., POS × Perceived Control), which yielded a satisfactory model fit, CFI = .960, TLI = .953, RMSEA = .045, 90% C.I. of RMSEA = [.042, .049], and SRMR = .054, \({{\chi^{2} } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\chi^{2} } {df}}} \right. \kern-0pt} {df}}\)  = 4.665, p  < .001. Next, we estimated the complete model with the interaction effect included. Adding the interaction significantly improved the model fit (− 2ΔLL = 13.396, Δ df  = 1, p  < .001) (Gerhard et al., 2015 ). Footnote 1 As shown in Fig.  1 , POS had a significant, negative effect on job insecurity ( c  = − .181, p  < .001), suggesting that perceived organizational support helps alleviate employees’ sense of job insecurity and thus confirms Hypothesis 1. Moreover, in support of Hypothesis 2, the mediation effect of POS on job insecurity via lockdown loneliness ( a 1 ×  b  = − .075, p  < .001) was obtained. POS improves lockdown loneliness ( a 1 = − .165, p  < .001), which in turn shapes one’s sense of job insecurity ( b  = .455, p  < .001).

Structural estimates of research model. Notes a 1 ×  b is the mediating effect of POS on job insecurity through lockdown loneliness. a 2 ×  b indicates that the moderation effect is mediated via lockdown loneliness

Furthermore, the results also indicated that the interaction between POS and perceived control had a significant, negative effect on lockdown loneliness ( a 2 = − .093, p  < .001). In support of Hypothesis 3, the results suggest that the impact of POS on lockdown loneliness was more pronounced as perceived control increased. More interestingly, we also observed a moderated mediation via lockdown loneliness for the perception of job insecurity ( a 2 ×  b  = − .043, p  < .001). To further assess the pattern of the moderating effect, we used subgroup analysis. The sample was divided into two groups based on a median split (e.g., DeCoster et al., 2011 ). The low (high) perceived control subgroup comprised respondents below (above) the median. The Wald test of parameter constraints within Mplus indicates that the effects of POS on lockdown loneliness between the low and high perceived control groups were significantly different (− .095 vs. − .314, low vs. high perceived control; \(\chi^{2}\)  = 14.859, df  = 1, p  < .001). For a further understanding of the pattern, Fig.  2 graphically illustrates the moderation effect of POS and perceived control on lockdown loneliness. At low levels of perceived control (1 SD below the standardized mean), the regression line was tilting to the higher right; at high levels of perceived control (1 SD above the standardized mean), the regression line tilted to the lower right.

Graphical illustration of the moderating effects of perceived control

Follow-up robustness test

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, China has continued to implement stringent restrictions and regional lockdowns in highly affected areas. During the second wave of the lockdown period in Xi’an city from December 2021 to January 2022, the second round of data was collected using a similar sampling approach and survey questionnaire as described earlier. GrowthEase, one of the two data service companies used previously, were commissioned to administer the online survey. A total of 1680 questionnaires were completed, with a valid sample of 1460 respondents. All the respondents confirmed that they were living in Xi’an city, experiencing the lockdown, and were employed during the pandemic. Next, these data were used to test the robustness of the original findings.

First, the convergent and discriminant validity of the measurement scales were assessed with the Xi’an dataset. The results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that the measurement model was adequate, CFI = .987, TLI = .983, RMSEA = .043, 90% C.I. of RMSEA = [.037, .049], SRMR = .026. All items loaded high onto their respective constructs and were statistically significant ( p  < .001). The composite reliability of the constructs ranged from .848 to .921, the average variance extracted (AVE) ranged from .653 to .760, and Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .842 to .919.

Next, the LMS method was used to estimate the structural equation model. In line with the previous results, POS had a significant negative effect on lockdown loneliness ( a 1 = − .186, p  < .001), lockdown loneliness resulted in a significant positive effect on the perception of job insecurity ( b  = .466, p  < .001), and the mediation effect of POS on the perception of job insecurity via lockdown loneliness was also significant ( a 1 ×  b  = − .087, p  < .001). These findings suggest that both the direct and indirect effects of POS on job insecurity (via lockdown loneliness) remain statistically significant and as impactful as before. However, the interaction between POS and perceived control on lockdown loneliness was not significant ( a 2 = .022, p  = .604). Furthermore, no significant mediated moderation effect was detected ( a 2 ×  b  = .010, p  = .605). These findings may suggest that the event impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is no longer perceived as novel and critical, as observed in the first wave of data collection.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major global challenges for organizations and has impacted their need to learn to adapt rapidly (Carnevale & Hatak, 2020 ; Cooke et al., 2021 ; Horn et al., 2021 ; Li et al., 2020 ). As the event impact made abundantly clear, there is a set of external threats that occur irregularly and unpredictably; these include natural disasters, foreign invasions, civil war, and rapid economic, institutional, and technological changes. External threats are much harder for businesses to anticipate and control for, yet they are often extremely disruptive to people’s lives and can have catastrophic consequences for industries and companies. With this in mind, organization studies should go beyond the contemporary circumstance mindset and help organizations to be better prepared for other disruptive events that may occur in the future. In view of the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its allied consequences for employees in terms of perceived ontological insecurity and employment uncertainty, the role of perceived organizational support (POS) was examined in managing employees’ sense of job insecurity.

Mainly drawing on social identity theory and supportive findings from research on emotions under psychological states of uncertainty, it is argued that POS as a favorable social identity cue helps to mitigate the fear of threats to the self and, as such, leads to an improved sense of job insecurity. Alternatively, POS may help to foster individuals’ reliance on emotions and other affective inputs in assessing job insecurity under disruptive uncertainty. As such, lockdown loneliness, as a specific manifestation of emotional well-being, is a pivotal mediating mechanism in explaining the impact of POS on job insecurity. As people likely respond to the same external threat to varying degrees and have different beliefs in their ability to exert control over the situation (Lin et al., 2021 ; Morgeson, 2005 ), the variable of perceived control was incorporated into the framework and its moderating influence on the effect of POS on lockdown loneliness was identified. Based on two-wave lagged survey data collected during lockdowns across multiple cities in China, the proposed research framework was largely confirmed, offering support for a range of important theoretical contributions and practical implications.

Theoretical contributions

The current study has several important theoretical contributions. First, the research provides an emerging perspective on organizational adaptive practices to external threats. Specifically, by focusing on event-induced ontological insecurity and employees’ concerns with workplace disruption, the framework offers useful insights into the role of POS in managing organizational responses to employees’ socioemotional needs and reactions in times of threats and challenges. Although POS has been widely studied in the literature, we believe that it is important to further deepen its theoretical relevance in the context of disruptive events. The approach brings the social identity perspective and uncertainty-based emotions to the forefront, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the psychological underpinnings of POS effects. Additionally, the adopted perspective appears more salient for Eastern cultures, where social identity theory has been found to be a more pivotal theoretical framework to account for POS effects (Rockstuhl et al., 2020 ). In general, this study has paved the way for future work to uncover the interplay surrounding organizational adaptive practices and employees’ reactions to disruptive situations.

Second, the majority of previous research has shown a direct relationship between employees’ job insecurity and their psychological well-being under contemporary circumstances (Shoss, 2017 ). Scholars have shown that job insecurity has detrimental consequences for employees’ mental health and affective commitment to the organization. However, what has been largely overlooked is emotional inputs in shaping employees’ sense of job insecurity. As the disruptiveness of the COVID-19 pandemic continues globally, the focus on addressing people’s emotional well-being has emerged as a top priority (Brodeur et al., 2020 ; Hamermesh, 2020 ). As the adverse impact on psychological well-being caused by the pandemic goes well beyond an organization’s control, the ability of an organization to prepare for, respond, and adapt to disruptive events can help establish ways to foster employees’ psychological resilience. In this regard, this research contributes to the theoretical development of affective inputs in response to event uncertainty in relation to employees’ sense of job insecurity.

Third, we demonstrated that an individual’s perceived control over disruptive events matters when modeling organizational adaptive responses to external threats. People who consider a disruptive event to be external and controllable tend to have an active mindset in searching for event-relevant information (Huang & Yang, 2020 ). Hence, they are likely to be more approachable to organizational support in challenging or threatening times. Relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic, recent research suggests that individuals respond to the same disruptive event to varying degrees with respect to event novelty, disruption, and criticality, resulting in different interpretations of the event, as well as subsequent levels of perceived job insecurity (Lin et al., 2021 ). In brief, accounting for event characteristics in the form of perceived control represents an important integration of previous literature on POS effects and research on emotions under external uncertainty.

Practical implications

Navigating external disruptions, organizations that have embraced digital technologies for virtual collaboration and business practices as the new normal are more likely to be well positioned to sustain the challenges of the future workplace (Papadopoulos et al., 2020 ; Shah et al., 2020 ). The ability to adopt a ‘new’ normal requires organizations to build a stronger and more resilient response mechanism that can help employees adjust to ever-changing and disruptive circumstances while simultaneously caring for their physical and mental well-being (Caligiuri et al., 2020 ; Hu et al., 2020 ). In this context, an important resource at organizations’ disposal is organizational support, with an important communicative function role that extends into building an organizational platform that strengthens physical and mental health among its employees (Carnevale & Hatak, 2020 ). More specifically, the pandemic has offered a great opportunity for organizations to display their human side by offering tools and solutions that help foster emotional well-being and organizational identification. For instance, building a digital workplace signifies organizational support in the shape of the commitment of organizations to connect with their employees and illustrates their concern and care for their employees’ well-being and resilience in disruptive times (Gigauri, 2020 ).

In view of our findings, POS can foster not only social identity with the organization, but also regulate emotional well-being (or lockdown loneliness under the pandemic context) and, as such, offers an important resource for employees to withstand unexpected stressful changes in the external environment. When employees are faced with increasing emotional instability due to unexpected events, it is essential that organizations promote well-being through measures of precaution and provide leadership that encourages aspirations of thriving through adversity (Brown & Roloff, 2015 ; Feeney & Collins, 2015 ). This means that POS should go beyond the traditional approaches of care and social exchange functions. In doing so, the focus should be on cultivating self-regulatory resources and social identity cues. Furthermore, our findings also demonstrate the contingent conditions of perceived control for a better understanding of the effectiveness of organizational support, especially in times of uncertainty. Hence, individuals’ interpretations and reactions to disruptive situations should not be underestimated, especially when external threats are perceived as novel, disruptive, and critical (Lin et al., 2021 ; Morgeson et al., 2015 ).

Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an abrupt shift from the traditional ‘office workplace’ to working from home during the pandemic, turning remote work into a permanent feature of the new occupational landscape (Carnevale & Hatak, 2020 ; Donthu & Gustafsson, 2020 ; Kaushik & Guleria, 2020 ). Adapting to this new reality, and given our observations, when redesigning or crafting jobs, it is desirable to integrate aspects, such as emotional management and psychological well-being, into the narrative (Kniffin et al., 2021 ). For instance, a transition to telework or other alternative work arrangements will require thoughtful leadership to adapt to the new normal by focusing on the communicative function of POS for building organizational resilience (Brown & Roloff, 2015 ).

Limitations and future research

There are several limitations associated with this study. The first-wave data were collected a few months after the nationwide lockdown in China. Hence, the retrospective nature of the data might suffer from retrieval bias in respondents (Huber & Power, 1985 ). To address this retrospective aspect of the survey, participants were asked to “think aloud” about what they experienced (Kuusela & Paul, 2000 ). In a follow-up robustness test of the model, we collected “experienced” data during the second wave of lockdown. In the follow-up study, the moderating role of perceived control was no longer significant—somehow different from the observations made in the first wave. It appears that risk perceptions changed and collectively evolved as the coronavirus pandemic progressed over time. Taken together, our results suggest that event characteristics and individuals’ interpretations are relevant to theory development for organizational adaptive practices to external threats (Lin et al., 2021 ).

Another concern entails common method variance (CMV), which cannot be completely ruled out due to the nature of the data. However, it should be noted that attempts were undertaken to limit its effects at the research design stage. Additionally, statistical tests were conducted to alleviate the concern of CMV. Despite the limited potential for CMV, future research should attempt to corroborate the causal relationships in our research model by engaging in creative research designs (e.g., lab experiments) to validate the underlying theoretical processes.

Similar to the observation above, another potential drawback is the cross-sectional design of this study, which may have failed to map the effects of within-subject variation in experienced perceived control, lockdown loneliness, and job insecurity. Longitudinal designs could test for such variability and offer more insights into the causality of the relationships between the core variables. Finally, further investigation concerning the generalizability of the findings to other country contexts or unexpected life events should occur. Unlike many other countries, China implemented some of the most stringent and prolonged national COVID-19 lockdowns that shaped the perception and experience of lockdown loneliness. Notwithstanding potential cross-country differences, lockdown loneliness has been widely considered a global phenomenon; therefore, the study’s findings offer an important platform for future research that helps to advance our knowledge about ways to cope with the negative impacts of adverse events on psychological well-being.

The overall goodness-of-fit of our hypothesized model was further tested with other alternative model specifications. Model 1 included direct effects only pertaining POS and perceived control, respectively, to lockdown loneliness and job insecurity. Model 2 included both the direct effects of POS on lockdown loneliness and job insecurity, and the interaction effects of POS × perceived control onto lockdown loneliness and job insecurity. According to Williams and Holahan ( 1994 ), among the parsimony-based fit indices for multiple-indicator models, the AIC value performed the best—the lower AIC indicates a better balance of model fit with parsimony. We found that the overall goodness-of-fit of these alternative models (AIC = 58,202.865 for Model 1; AIC = 58,189.597 for Model 2) were all inferior to that of our hypothesized model (AIC = 58,041.627).

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief and the reviewers for their insights and guidance in helping us improve the quality of the paper. The assistance provided by Lin Huang and Wenting Xiao of WJX and Hui Liao, Wei Wei, and Jiehao Wu of GrowthEase was greatly appreciated. We are also grateful to the assistance in data analysis provided by Professor Mengcheng Wang of Guangzhou University.

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Zhou, L., Li, S., Zhou, L. et al. The effects of perceived organizational support on employees’ sense of job insecurity in times of external threats: an empirical investigation under lockdown conditions in China. Asian Bus Manage 22 , 1567–1591 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41291-023-00219-4

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Prism of Employee Performance Through the Means of Internal Support: A Study of Perceived Organizational Support

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Authors Li M , Jameel A , Ma Z , Sun H , Hussain A , Mubeen S

Received 27 January 2022

Accepted for publication 13 April 2022

Published 20 April 2022 Volume 2022:15 Pages 965—976

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S346697

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Mingxing Li, 1 Arif Jameel, 1 Zhiqiang Ma, 1 Hongzheng Sun, 1 Abid Hussain, 1 Sidra Mubeen 2 1 School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, People’s Republic of China; 2 GC University, Faisalabad, Pakistan Correspondence: Arif Jameel, School of Management, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, 212013, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical framework for testing the perceived organizational support (POS)-employee performance relationship with a mediating effect of intrinsic motivation. To combine the concepts from perceived organizational support (POS) and employee performance, secondary data have been collected from different research papers to provide a literature-based analysis. The present study found positive relationships between POS, intrinsic motivation, and employees’ performance. The study further realized the intrinsic motivation as a potential mediator between POS and performance relationship. From this framework, numerous areas of research can be pursued to be used to research and practice human resource management. The theoretical framework which is developed in this paper is based upon literature that can be proved empirically. To improve theory, research, and practice in the field of human resource management, this paper conceptualizes the concept of POS through the means of internal support. Keywords: perceived organizational support, empowerment, organizational trust, intrinsic motivation, employee performance

Introduction

In today’s competitive environment employees’ needs and wants should be dealt with on a priority basis. 1 The purpose of doing the same is to retain them and to make them more profitable for the organization. It is quite critical for any organization to develop such programs and policies as are attractive and alluring for employees. 2 Organizations in recent times are well-aware of this very fact and becoming conscious to provide a supportive environment to their employees to retain them for a longer period. 3 Taleghani et al 4 are of the view that the most important cradle for obtaining competitive advantage is the role of human resources in an organization.

Perryer et al 5 explored and concluded that the core objective of organizations in our days is to increase their competitive advantage. This must be done through effective and efficient use of human resources. As it is difficult for competitors to imitate human resource skills and techniques used by an organization. To obtain it organizations must hire skilled and valuable employees. 6 Organizations should look more appealing and attractive to employees through their management programs and policies. This will reduce the employee turnover ratio. Allen et al 7 retention of employees with the appropriate knowledge, professionalism, positive attitude, and required abilities has become increasingly important for competitive organizations in the last couple of decades. Now organizations are becoming increasingly concerned and alert about retaining the employees and using them effectively to attain a long-term competitive edge. 5

Mayfield and Mayfield 8 indicate that for an organization’s outclass performance, valuable and experienced employees are their backbone. Therefore retention of these employees is of crucial importance for employers. By providing a working environment that is positive, supportive, and focuses on the collective effort the retention of the employees can be ensured. 9 One aspect of an encouraging and helpful organization environment is defined as an employee’s perceived organizational support Riggle et al 10 that is an employee’s perceived organizational support. It is an employee’s attitude that is considered by organizations very valuable. Therefore organizations should invest generously in such programs which tend to improve their employee’s perceived organizational support. 11

may be used by employees as an indicator of the organization’s benevolent or malevolent intent in the expression of exchange of employee effort for reward and recognition.

Blau 13 have laid their ideas based on “social exchange theory” and on norms of “reciprocity” respectively. They say that when an organization acts in beneficial ways to its employee then he or she has an understood obligation to reciprocate in the same manner. This leads towards more dedication and commitment of employees in achieving organizational goals. 14 Eisenberger et al 15 say that the extent to which the socio-emotional need is satisfied, individuals “incorporate organizational membership into their self-identity”. This serves to support the social exchange relationship, which consequently leads to increased employees performance commitment. They become connected as required by their job which leads to the growth of positive attitudes in the organization. 16 Coyle-Shapiro and Conway 17 based on the models of exchange relationships say that organizational supportive treatment creates a sense of commitment that encourages employees to put extraordinary efforts to make the organization achieve its objective. Liao et al 18 believe that perceived organizational support is a well-thought-out process as far as positive organizational outcomes are concerned. The social exchange concept explains that employees be disposed to interchange valuable treatment that they obtain with positive work-related activities. 19

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the research work linking POS to employee performance. Using secondary data, the study presents the theoretical framework of the relationship between POS and employee performance and the possible mediating effect of employee motivation on that relationship. We used a multi-dimensional POS scale to theorize these relationships.

Literature Review

Perceived Organizational Support

Eisenberger et al 15 are the first ones to present the idea of perceived organizational support. He defined it as an endowment of a supportive and caring environment at the workplace. In the contemporary competitive environment perceived organizational support has gained tremendous importance for the organizations. Perceived organizational support can be defined by way of a belief of the employees that the organization gives due consideration to their Well-being, welfare and value their contributions to the organization. 20

Social exchange theory is employed to better understand the reciprocal relationship that exists inside the organization between employees and the organization. 13 Perceived organizational support is based upon this reciprocal relationship which involves the inclination of the organization to fulfill the socio-emotional needs of the employees.

Wayne et al 21 explain the social exchange relationship. He says when the organization shows supportive and positive behavior toward employees’ contributions, cares about their well-being and treats them impartially. Employees expect a high level of support and consequently feel obliged to respond.

Perceived organizational support guarantees to the employees 22 that the organization will provide necessary support and will not leave them alone in stressful situations. It also includes organization stands behind them, it backs them through every thick and thin. Rhoades and Eisenberger 23 are certain that the “perceived organizational support” as being the result of “organizational support theory”. They further say that perceived organizational support is centered upon the idea that the organization and employees enjoy exchange relations.

According to the result of research done by Davidson et al 24 to gain competitive advantage organizations are seeking quality employees. At the same time, they are facing the challenge of employees turnover as a result of more attractive packages from competitors. The only solution in this situation is retaining the employees by enhancing their perceived organizational support.

Research carried out by Ballinger et al 25 agrees on the one point that organizations should look more attractive by their supportive and caring environment toward their employees. This is the only way to survive and sustain in an ever-increasing competitive environment. Perceived organizational support prevails in an organization through many aspects.

Perceived Organizational Support and Supervisory Support

POS is characterized as the extent to which the employees perceive that their supervisor thinks about their career well-being and their personal needs. To what extent do they give due consideration to their contribution to the organization and create a supportive environment for them. 26 Organizational support theory explains that an organization shows its concern towards its employees through its agents who create a cooperative situation and develops facilities for employees on the behalf of the organization. 14

The result of the research done by Sluss et al 27 , 28 indicates that there exists a positive correlation between supervisory support and perceived organizational support. Supervisory support has been proved as a predictor and outcome of perceived organizational support and there exists a strong connecting link between the two. Lee 29 explains the leader-member exchange as a relationship between leader and employee which is a part of perceived organizational support.

Research done by Ballinger et al 25 points toward that supervisor support is like a social relation and when there is a greater value of social relationships for the employees they will reciprocate with positive behaviors that benefit the organization. As a matter of the fact, perception of supervisors’ support is positively related to subordinates’ perceived organizational support.

Sluss et al 27 specify the leader-member exchange and perceived organizational support in the conclusion of their research. It is strongly influenced by the organization through its agents because the leader is thought to be an agent of the organization who can bring the employees and management on the same page. Leaders influence the organization’s decision-making. These researches also determined that when there is a strong leader-member relation this leads towards a high and positive perception of organizational support among the employees. Both POS and leader-member exchange are based upon social exchange relations. They categorically stated that in an exchange relationship when a leader provides something valuable to its employees then it became inevitable for employees to reciprocate it with even more zeal and zest.

Settoon et al 19 put forward their results based upon the Social exchange theory. They say that the employees maintain an affiliation with the organization and the supervisor. These results were also confirmed by some other research done by Wayne et al 21 , 30 Employees are involved in continuing exchange relationships both with the organization as a whole and their immediate supervisor to deliver them positive repercussions.

Previous studies 31 also bear testimony to the very fact that when the employees found greater Perceived Supervisory Support within their working environment this also increases their Perceived organizational support. The result is obvious ie increase in performance. Therefore this can be concluded that when perceived supervisory support increases the perceived organizational support will also be increased because supervisory support is one aspect of perceived organizational support.

Organizational support theory designates that supervisors’ constructive treatment results in increased Perceived organizational support, which makes it obligatory for the employees to help the organization in meeting its goals. They show more commitment, more positive behavior, and a more enthusiastic attitude toward the organization. 32

Perceived Organizational Support and Organizational Trust

Perceived organizational support also prevails in an organization through organization trust. According to Gouldner 33 the defining feature of organizational trust is the norm of exchange relationships. Here the employees perceive that their organization trusts them in carrying out their duties. They return it by showing high performance and loyalty toward the organization.

Porter et al 34 recommended in these words, “Where there is trust there is the feeling that others will not take advantage of another”. To carry out organizational functions appropriately trust plays a vital role. It is not only necessary rather inevitable for the organization to maintain trust-based relationships.

Baumeister and Leary 35 concluded in their research that to improve and boost the quality of work-life, trust relationships are direly needed. They provide the necessary support, inclination, persistence, and meaning to the organizational members. Social exchange relationships and perceived organizational support can be structured and strengthened through the development of trust among the organizational members.

In today’s competitive environment organizations are continuously developing the cooperative environment and feelings of collaboration among their employees in the work setting. 36 Where the collective actions and teamwork prevail organizations are also extending their parameters of trust for improving and refining the values of employees which they create.

Trust is a characteristic of perceived organizational support and is positively correlated 37 towards it. Perceived organizational support guarantees that employees will be rewarded for their positive contributions. It ensures good consequences in the wake of risk-taking, initiative-taking, spontaneous and simultaneous response. It all results in the belief that organizations have a high level of acceptance for mistakes and have trust in their employees. Therefore employees ought to be all the more eager to respond to high perceived organizational support not only with expanded performance as well as with risk-taking. 38 , 39 It gives bigger potential adjustments to the organization because they realize that the organization has trust in them.

Perceived organizational support tends to be related to reasonable risk-taking. 40 As a result of a resultant conviction, there will be lesser retribution for failure after taking efforts to help the organization to meet its goals. This tendency leads the positive organizational trust towards its employees because trust is a trait of perceived organizational support.

Dineen et al 41 have concluded in their study that the organization and its representatives develop the beliefs of reliability, guidance, and behavioral veracity among their employees. They want to maintain an image of cooperation and assistance among them. 42 So, the employees become honest, and they feel at ease while discussing difficulties at work with the concerned department or the person.

Perceived Organizational Support and Empowerment

Empowerment is a part of perceived organizational support, according to the Porter et al 34 it has become compulsory for organizations to improve their efficiency and performance to respond the rapidly changing business conditions. This is the only way to remain successful in a competitive environment. In the global competition following the trend of empowerment of the employees is vital 43 for attaining the long-term competitive advantage and to improve the organizational performance. Perceived organizational support flourishes among the employees when they are empowered.

In the context of Bandura 44 theory of self-efficacy, Conger and Kanungo 45 explain the concept of empowerment. Agreeing with Bandura’s model they defined empowerment as “empowerment refers to a process whereby an individual’s belief in his or her self-efficacy is enhanced”. They agree to the version of empowerment as a set of conditions necessary for intrinsic task motivation.

It is an instinct in human beings to remain independent and to enhance their autonomy to influence and control their environment. They continuously strive for attaining empowerment. Tulloch 46 defined in his research the original meanings of empowering as “authorize, give power to”. Empowerment can be defined as a concept of symmetrical power 47 , 48 which enhances the cooperation and increase the power of each person in the organization.

Senior experienced individuals within the organization are called mentors. They give advice and developmental support to junior employees. Russell and Adams 49 define the concept of empowerment as an interactional relationship between an experienced employee and a less experienced peer. Theorists Kanter 50 and Parker et al 51 explained that when a person becomes empowered in decision-making and in performing his duties he feels freedom and authority. Empowerment means not just delegation of power and giving the authority of decision-making to those who are at the lower level in the organizational hierarchy. Rather empowerment is all about trust, motivation, the authority of decision making and ultimately creating an environment of shared deliberation.

Eisenberger et al 52 , 53 recognized empowerment as a major chunk of perceived organizational support and a positive correlation between high autonomy and increased perceived organizational support. When an organization trusts in its employee to decide wisely on their own, to perform their jobs, and assist the organization in meeting its goals they reciprocate. Perceived organizational support is related to trust which is considered an important element in social exchange relationships. 54 , 55 When trust prevails within organization employees are given more authority to control their environment. They affect their job outcomes with positive behavior. This explains that the organization shows its trust in employees by empowering them. The employees reciprocate it by showing higher performance and in this way, the perceived organizational support formed through empowerment strengthens the social exchange relationships within organizations.

The environment that is shared by employees and their organization can be related mainly to term perceived organizational support. Employees view it as a perceived measure for organizational support in their professional behavior. Empowerment however refers to actual changes in one’s role and authority, which is to be expected in the level of authority. 56

Perceived Organizational Support and Mentoring

Mentoring is different from supervisory support as Supervisory support is a perception of the employees about their superiors’ concern towards their well-being. 57 How supervisors value employees’ contributions, and how much they are supportive towards them. 14 Whereas mentoring is an interactive exchange relationship between high experienced and low experienced employees and it is thought to be important for peers’ socialization. While studying the characteristics of perceived organizational support Dreher and Ash, 58 found mentoring as an important attribute of perceived organizational support which supports the social exchange relationships in the organization.

When Dreher and Cox 59 studied supportive properties of mentoring relationships from both the perspective of the mentor and the peers this strongly supports social exchange theory. They found that the degree of reciprocity, as well as the support that peers obtain from their mentors, leads towards peers’ satisfaction with their mentors. Having a mentor has become compulsory for the organization to sustain itself in the global competition. 60 Employees’ performance positively grows when the mentors play a significant role to socialize them and it works as a major feature of perceived organizational support.

Scandura 61 describes that mentoring provides opportunities to less experienced employees. It enables them to obtain useful skills for their career advancement and to increase their job performance. They have access to organizational resources. Now they know about the clear span of control and line of authority within the organization. Mentoring helps the employees to cope with career stress. It provides the opportunities to acquire new skills, knowledge, and abilities that are necessary for career growth. Ragins and Cotton 62 agree that in mentoring process persuasive individuals who have advanced experience and knowledge in the work environment support other employees’ careers. They explain the mentor as an advisor and trusted guide by the organization who helps the other, especially to those who are at lower rank through his vast experience and skills.

Allen et al 63 found empirical evidence that mentoring creates an environment of initiation and socialization which leads toward increased employee performance. Mentoring creates feelings of identification with the organization. The employees feel positive psychological feelings about their career and reciprocate with higher performance. According to the study of Baugh and Scandura 64 employees with a mentor show more career promotions, earn higher returns, and are more satisfied than employees without a mentor.

Mentoring is a part of perceived organization support that is an informal relationship in an organization. 65 The aim of mentoring is to disseminate the knowledge and skills from a higher to a lower level for the profitability of the organization. It provides advancement opportunities at the lower levels and employees feel an association with the organization and perceive their organization more supportive.

Perceived Organizational Support and Employee Motivation

Motivation is here defined as the driving force within individuals that influences their choices of behavior in performing tasks to achieve desired goals or expectations.

Internal motivation is requisite to motivate the employees internally for enhancing their performance and to keep them satisfied at work. On the other hand, external motivation helps only for the retention of the employees.

Over thirty years of investigative study has proved that “intrinsic motivation” directs to enhanced tenacity, performance, and gratification in a diversity of jobs in several domains (eg, educational, behavioral well-being, and institutional) than “extrinsic motivation”. 70 , 71 The theory also suggests that the espousal of “intrinsic motivation” over “extrinsic motivation” rests on the gratification of three essential psychological wants for “autonomy, competence, and relatedness”. SDT emphasizes inspirations and recommends that people have fundamental psychological wants for “autonomy, competence, and relatedness”. The study has proposed that humans are more probably to stick with, and have an advanced qualitative performance on doings that fulfill these wants. 72 , 73 In self-determination theory, “autonomy” relates to the desire to self-organize an individual’s activities, when one can easily follow the activity and experiences “volitional” in doing so. 71 The necessity for capability infers that persons are inclined to be efficient in their connections with the surroundings and when they do an action 74 which is alike to the notion of “self-efficacy”. 75 The requirement for relatedness 35 is the need to feel associated and backed by important individuals, for instance a boss, parents, mentors, or colleagues.

According to Mosley et al 76 the employees will be satisfied with their organization and enjoy their work when they will be internally motivated. Internal motivation is associated with the employees’ willingness to meet the challenges, to take the risks and new initiatives for the organization. Gagné and Deci 77 claimed that a supportive work setting should boost self-determined motivation at the related level (ie, work motivation). Henceforth et al 78 explored the role of POS (ie, the extent to which workers believe that their institution values their job and cares about their well-being in the prediction of employees’ motivation rendering to SDT. In a study of a sample of 881 pilots employed for a business airline company, Gagné et al 78 proved that POS was optimistically associated with self-determined motivation. Tremblay et al 79 also unearthed that both POS and work climate were positively connected to self-determined work motivation.

Perceived Organizational Support and Employee Performance

Monetary and non-monetary results of employees’ efforts consider being as employee performance which has a direct effect upon the performance and achievement of the organization. The employee’s outcomes and endeavors which they make at work are thought to be their performance. According to Cardy and Leonard 80 in the performance management process performance evaluation has a distinctive position because it evaluates the actual performance outcomes. Organizational programs and policies have a direct effect on the performance of its employees and on the performance of the organization itself. Delery and Doty 81 argue that in the integrative perspective of strategic human resource management configurations and patterns of human resource activities contrary to single activities are essential in meeting the organizational long term and short term objectives.

The aggregate value of direct and indirect behavior and contributions of employees to an organization is considered as employee performance. 82 When employees fulfill their assigned responsibilities, duties, and tasks they fulfill their in-role performance 83 , 84 because these are formally mentioned in their job description and this is directly linked with individual tasks and productivity.

Employee performance is influenced by POS and employee engagement and is directly related to organizational performance. As employee performance is a behavioral outcome and when an organization gives proper attention and recognition to the employees’ work and contribution their performance is seen to be more flourished. Stamper and Johlke 9 find evidence that POS positively influences the improvement of employee performance. Allen et al 7 says that the assessment of excellence of employee achievement according to the organization’s expectations is called employee performance.

According to the results of research conducted by Eisenberger et al 15 the behaviors and treatments of organizations towards their employees affect their employee’s performance. Jamal 85 describes job performance as a role that an individual can achieve effectively and efficiently with available resources and through overcoming the normal constraints. They also explain it as a set of behaviors through which the employees help in the attainment of the organization’s goals.

Perceived organizational support and employee performance

Mediating Effect of Employee Motivation Between Perceived Organizational Support and Employee Performance Relationship

Perceived organizational support is correlated to motivation is based on the idea that perceived organizational support would satisfy the emotional needs of the employees by providing a caring and supportive environment. 86 Employees are motivated to present positive work-related behaviors when perceived organizational support makes them feel highly associated with the organization.

Intrinsic motivation has been unearthed to mediate the relationships of perceived organizational support and work-related attitudes. When workers think that their company value and respect them, they start enjoying the work more, and they feel more motivated to take the initiative. 87 , 88

Perceived organizational support affects employee performance indirectly. 89 When employees see support and care from the organization, the organization addresses their need for association and offers them a sense of belonging they become emotionally involved in an organization which results in enhanced performance. Perceived organizational support in the conclusion of the study undertaken by Shore et al 38 is positively linked with many considerations. This includes employees’ positive behaviors, professional attitudes, and better outcomes such as organizational commitment and enhanced employee performance at the workplace. 90 When employees see their companies value their inputs and are concerned about their well-being they react in more positive manners and they feel the motivation to perform their task.

Erdogan and Enders, 91 concluded in their study that perceived organizational support at the broadest level, is consistently associated with increased job performance through employees’ intrinsic motivation. Employees show increased performance, innovation, and carefulness in performing their job responsibilities for the organization when they perceive a higher level of organizational support.

Empirical studies found motivation as a mediator in performance relationships and other variables. 92 For example between climate and employee, performance motivation exist as a crucial mediating variable. Numerous other researchers found a mediating effect of motivation between context influences creativity and organizational performance. 93

To combine the concepts from POS and employee performance secondary data has been employed that is collected from different research papers to provide a literature-based analysis. Firstly, we performed a computer search of the PsycINFO databases, beginning with the introduction of the POS construct. We searched for all published articles and books containing the terms POS in their title or abstract having relationships with other factors.

Second, we carried out a computer search of Web of Science’s citation index for all articles POS.

The amalgamations of different theories include social exchange theory, 13 the theory of self-efficacy, 94 self-determination theory, 71 and organizational support theory 15 help to construct a theoretical framework. These methods enabled us to explore the relationships among POS, intrinsic motivation, and employees’ performance and provide enough data to combine all those dimensions which are part of POS in a single paper.

Practical Implications

The current results show that managers’ own POS has central implications for the acuities and accomplishment of their juniors. Based on our results, junior’s supportive treatment and its constructive results may create, at least in part, from the “supportive treatment” that managers get from the company.

In common with earlier organizational support theory, our study findings recommend that promising exchange relations between a worker and a company may cause in good treatment of managers, colleagues, juniors, or clients, relying on the level of the worker in the company and the kind of work kept by the worker. Workers at virtually any stage of the company may respond to perceived organizational support by aiding colleagues or managers. 95 Moreover, the current research findings propose that managers make use of the prospect to respond by offering juniors a “supportive treatment”, with significant results for juniors’ perceived organizational support and performance. The forthcoming study could take measures of supportive actions offered to juniors (eg, optimistic feedback, coaching, and presence in making a decision) to inspect precisely what actions the manager exercises in response to perceived organizational support that direct juniors to have improved insights of manager support.

The optimistic connection amid managers’ perceived organizational support and juniors’ perceived organizational support and performance recommends that institutions may wish to foster manager perceived organizational support. An earlier study connecting managers implies that few of the antecedents of perceived organizational support for lower cadre workers and managers are the same, including higher cadre worker’s supportive treatment, promising job experiences (eg, training, development, and promotion prospects), and reward expectations. 96 Other job experiences established important to the perceived organizational support of lower cadre workers may also be imperative to managers. For instance, having a voice, or the chance to put contribute to the “decision-making” of the institution and independence in functioning one’s job responsibilities were discovered to be two of the substantially linked antecedents of perceived organizational support. 87 Thus, institutions that handle managers in ways that give them “voice and autonomy” may interject substantively to managers’ insights of institutional support.

The forthcoming study could also take into consideration the dispositional features of the manager that influence the connection amid managers’ perceived organizational support and juniors’ performance. For example, the association amid perceived organizational support and a felt duty to repay the institution was found to be bigger among workers with an eminent exchange ideology. 26 Thus, managers with a high exchange ideology may feel a sturdier duty to treat their juniors supportively under conditions of high POS, with a corresponding influence on their treatment of workers. In return, it will increase the performance of both employees and their supervisors.

Limitations and Future Work

There are some limitations to this study. First, this paper provides a theoretical base and in the future, it can be tested empirically. Second, it is also observed that most of the studies are predominantly conducted in developed countries with only a few from Asian countries. To approve and support the rationality or otherwise of these outcomes it is therefore suggested, that research be conducted in other developing countries. Third, employee motivation is used as a potential mediator in this study, future research should employ other mediators or moderators such as employee commitment, and psychological empowerment.

In conclusion, our research findings recommend that “organizational support theory” could be extended to take in support providing to juniors as a way by which managers share beneficial handling from the institute. Taken together, the current research findings interpose to a better understanding of the role of POS, manager supported motivation in the prediction of employee performance. More precisely, institutional and supervisory factors, together with individual features, are involved in predicting performance. As employee performance is the key concern for every organization; organizations and trainers should support supervisory staff to strengthen their POS and level of motivation in their professional activities. Employee motivation supported by the supervisors’ in the company valued their input and cared about their welfare were unearthed linked to juniors’ acuities of support by the manager, which, in return, was associated to juniors’ perceived organizational support, and performance. Therefore, the institute’s “supportive treatment” of managers may have value for enhancing the perceived organizational support and performance of juniors.

Data Sharing Statement

The data used to support this study are included in the article.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

This study is financed by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71573109) and (71974082).

There is no conflict of interest.

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Employee Relations

ISSN : 0142-5455

Article publication date: 9 June 2021

Issue publication date: 1 October 2021

This paper aims at examining graduate research supervisors' perceptions of organizational and job supervisors' support and their influence on research completion rate. While research supervision has been mainly examined from pedagogical perspectives, little emphasis has been placed on the human resource management (HRM) activity for academics. This review paper draws from organizational support and social exchange theories (SET) to examine the influence of perceived organizational support (POS) and perceived supervisor support (PSS) in research supervision work.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a narrative literature review of identified relevant readings on organizational support and social exchange, research supervisors' perceived support and their implications for research.

Research supervisors examine their perceptions of administrative, professional, financial and socio-emotional support from their universities and job supervisors. They in turn feel obligated to reciprocate, for example, through commitment, engagement and performance, towards meeting their goals with the organization, the job supervisor and the student.

Research limitations/implications

The study relied on a literature review; hence, the findings may not reflect actual expressions of research supervisors' perceptions.

Practical implications

The paper shows the application of organizational support and social exchange theories in academic work. It emphasizes the importance of support, perception and reciprocation through an exchange relationship. The research support framework is a guide to managing the relationships among the parties involved in research work.

Originality/value

The paper considers research supervisors as key human resources (HRs) that espouse supportive HRM practices from both the organization and the job supervisor. This is unlike most studies that have employed only pedagogical approaches in explaining research. It further develops a research supervision support framework.

• Employee relations
• Human resource management
• Organizational support
• Research completion
• Research supervision
• Social exchange
• Supervisor support

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Directorate of Research and Graduate Training at Makerere University, for organizing a training on graduate supervision, where the idea for this paper was conceived. Special appreciation is extended to the Facilitators and Participants at the mentioned training, whose critical feedback shaped the development of this paper.

Wanyama, S.B. and Eyamu, S. (2021), "Perceived organizational support, graduate research supervision and research completion rate", Employee Relations , Vol. 43 No. 6, pp. 1414-1430. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-05-2020-0205

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